


A Different Kind of Dimensional War

by IcyPheonix



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Barian World, Barian au, Character Undeath, Characters to be added, Gen, Pairings are as canon as you want them to be, Series Rewrite
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-25
Updated: 2017-12-30
Packaged: 2018-06-04 08:32:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 89
Words: 178,699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6650458
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IcyPheonix/pseuds/IcyPheonix
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There's a world that connects all the dimensions, a world known to all but by different names; the Spirit World, the Netherworld, the Barian World.<br/>But now something threatens not only the 4 dimensions, but that world, and its peace, as well.<br/>For most death is the end, but for a few individuals, death is merely a new beginning.<br/>Sakaki Yuya is one of those people.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prelude

**Author's Note:**

> Here it is at last! My Barian Au, which you may know about if you've been following my tumblr. A convoluted idea that got out of hand. Very out of hand.  
> This first part may seem familiar as it was originally posted separately(to my tumblr and in my collection of Arc V related drabbles). I decided to use it as the, first chapter/prologue to the fic instead after polishing it up a bit.
> 
> Edit:  
> I tweaked Yuri's section a bit so that, adding in a sort of, connection to Selena.

Yuto screamed in pain as the debris heaped on him shifted ever so slightly, now pinning him from the middle of his chest on down. He could barely feel his legs, let alone move them, and any movements he could make resulted in searing pain. Even breathing hurt, the weight of the cement, metal and rock crushing down on his chest with a sickening crunching sound. All he could really move was his head and his shoulders.

Twisting his head he looked from side to side, to try and find any trace of his friends.

“Shun…”

The last he’d seen of the teal-haired teen he’d been flung through the window of a nearby building by an Ancient Gear Golem. Yuto feared the worst when Shun didn’t reappear and would have gone to help, but he’d been trapped.

“Ruri…”

He shuddered and his vision blurred as he moved his head to the other side. Ruri lay a few feet away, where she’d fallen only a few minutes earlier after the explosion rocked the building, and she was moving even less than Yuto.

He closed his eyes, tears burning around the corners. How was this fair? His home, his friends, his family; all of it was gone in an instant, and for what? Because some, other dimension decided they wanted in, to take over?

One minute he was walking home from school with his friends, a perfectly ordinary and normal day, the next the city was burning as monsters made of very life-like Solid Vision, controlled by an army of duelists stormed through. It was hell on earth, and they were caught in the middle.

“Damn it, damn you Fusion bastards! It’s not fair, it’s not fair.”

The rubble shifted again and he screamed; from somewhere among the debris he felt something sharp plunge into his abdomen. He coughed and sputtered, an acrid, metallic taste filling his mouth. His arms fell to his sides weakly, his remaining strength slipping away in an instant, replaced by a heavy, tired feeling.

Yuto shuddered as his eyes closed, head rolling to the side as a chill crept through him, drawing out the last of his strength, and one more voice was silenced among the cacophonous roar of the invasion.

 

* * *

 

One duel, that was all it had taken, losing one duel in the Friendship Cup and he found himself in the Garbage Facility, working, his freedom a memory.

He’d tried to escape, once, but he’d been caught before he got far and the next day had his food withheld from him as punishment and his workload doubled. After that everything just went downhill.

He was told he could duel for his freedom; it was really the only way he could leave, so Yugo decided that would be his best option. Just win a duel and he could be out of that godless place. That didn't sound all that hard after all.

Delirious from hunger he stumbled, made bad plays and lost the duel in spectacular fashion.

As the days dragged on things got worst, they ran him ragged, increasing workload, or decreasing his food for any infraction, as was apparently the norm.

Yugo panted as he leaned against the wall, only just barely holding onto the bundle that leaned on his shoulder. His legs ached, protesting as he forced himself to continue onward. He just wanted to sit down, to rest, but he couldn’t, not yet, the shift wasn’t over yet, and sitting before he was allowed would only make things worse for him in the long run.

He took another, shaky step and his foot caught on a rock causing him to stumble and his face became acquainted with the ground in a painful fashion. The junk he’d been carrying flew everywhere as it slipped from his hands, not that his grip had been that stable in the first place.

Yugo was tired, beyond exhausted, and starving, reduced to a mere shadow of the person he once was. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d had a decent meal.

The labourers were those who had lost in the Friendship Cup or were sent by the Facility, in short, disposable and replaceable, so it made no difference to them if he actually ate, let alone ate well.

He groaned as he tried to stand, there was only one thing that had been pushing him forwards, Rin, and the hope of getting out of there to see her again. As the days drew on though he began to feel those hopes slipping away.

Then he’d heard the news, from a worker that had been sent down from the facility. A group of Duel Runners had tried to stage a raid on the Garbage Facility. The raid ended in a massive chase with Security, the result of which was a disaster. The worker had no names, but it sounded like several people had died in a horrific collision. It was the description of one of the D-Wheels involved that sickened him, that was the reason he remained on the ground. It sounded uncomfortably like the one he and Rin had worked together on, had built from the ground up.

He closed his eyes in resignation as he collapsed again, if that were true then there was nothing waiting for him on the outside.

“Rin…I’m sorry.”

By the time another worker found him, collapsed in a heap behind a large rock, it was to late.

 

* * *

 

When he got up that morning, the last place Yuri expected to find himself was cornered by three members of Obelisk Force, two of which were on either side of him holding him down. He’d been forced to his knees and his arms pinned behind his back.

“What are you doing?” he growled, struggling against their iron-like grip. “This is insubordination you know. I’ll-“

“You’ll do nothing,” said the red-gemmed Obelisk Force member in font of him, tapping away on his duel disk. “We have our orders, from The Professor himself.”

Yuri stopped struggling for a moment, trying to free his arms. “What?” He had to have misheard; there was no way they were doing this under orders. He was one of the top duelists from that year’s class; there was no way he’d done something to earn this.

A cruel grin flashed across the uniform clad duelist’s face “Oh yes. He hasn’t been too impressed with your performance as of late. Said it was time for your termination. Seems deserting your post guarding the prisoner was the last straw. Because you weren’t there, she escaped and drowned.” He gave a nod to his companions, who pulled Yuri’s arms tighter behind his back. “So really, Yuri-sama,” he dragged out the title with a mocking tone. “We’re the ones in control here.”

Yuri clenched his jaw, what on earth did he mean guarding a prisoner, he’d never been ordered to do that.

Unnoticed, a lone figure ducked out of sight of the exchange, hand clamped over his mouth to keep quiet. This was not something he was meant to be seeing, but running now would only alert them to his presence.

“Now, about your termination.” He raised his left arm, pointing his duel disk towards Yuri. “It is to be effective, immediately.”

Yuri shivered and his stomach sank, that pose, he knew exactly what was coming and it scared him, actually honestly scared him. “You can’t,” he said quietly, arms relaxing in their grip. He couldn’t fight his way out even if he wanted to, the wall behind him and the soldiers surrounding him made sure of that.

Suddenly his arms were free and the two soldiers on either side of him stepped back. Yuri had just enough time to look between them, to register that nothing was holding him there anymore, before a brilliant, violet light enveloped him.

When the light died down the masked soldier strode forward, picking up the card that lay where Yuri had been kneeling only moments before.

Then, without the slightest it of hesitation or remorse, he tore it right down the middle, dividing it into two.

“Termination complete.”

The hidden figure had to bite back a scream of horror at what he’d witnessed before taking off running, and he wouldn’t stop running till he was as far away as he could be, even if it meant going to another dimension.

 

* * *

 

_Beep…Beep…Beep_

The harsh, rhythmic beeping of a monitor filled the silent hospital room, accompanied by the soft rush of air from the nearby ventilator.

Yuya stirred slightly, eyes opening just a crack. Everything hurt, every inch of his form ached as if a building had fallen on him, which wasn’t too far from the truth. It hadn’t been an actual building but part of a bridge, a bridge created by Solid Vision for a duel. But it shouldn’t have been that real.

Yuya had been in plenty of Action Duels; he knew the texture, the feel and hardness of Solid Vision, the way it should have been. But the moment he’d been thrown into the wall of the bridge it was as if he’d been thrown into a real brick wall.

It had taken him several moments to stand again, but even then only just barely, the wind knocked right out of him and a stabbing pain in his back.

It was strange it would feel so real and life-like, so strange.

_Beep…Beep…Beep_

Voices tittered quietly and feet shuffled around the room before the door clicked shut and silence descended once more.

With what little strength he could muster, Yuya tilted his head to look in the direction of the only other bed in the room and the blurry pink shape in it.

‘ _Yuzu…_ ’

It was a trap; a stupid, obvious tap and he’d walked right into it, dragging Yuzu and the kids in with him. Sawatari, he’d used the four of them as bait to keep Yuya in a duel with him, and it had worked. But he wasn’t working alone, several times Yuya heard him talking to someone on the other end of his Duel Disk. Someone who knew exactly what was going on and made no move to stop it.

‘ _Why?_ ’ he thought, letting his eyes drift closed again. ‘ _Why didn’t you stop the duel?_ ’

If hitting the wall hadn’t convinced him something was wrong, watching everything fall apart and being struck upside the head by a brick certainly did. Yuya was no stranger to hitting and being hit with Solid Vision in an Action Duel, it came with the territory. But it wasn’t meant to be that solid; it was solid enough that one could end up bruised, but generally no more than that. A brick shouldn’t have been as hard as a brick. If he hadn’t known better, he’d have said it was real.

_Beep…Beep…Beep_

Yuya wasn’t sure how much time had passed since the duel, how long he’d been there, but he had yet to see Yuzu move from where she lay, the soft beeping the only thing to tell him that she was even still alive.

Her screams, her terrified screams would be permanently etched into his ears, the last clear memory he had, only able to watch helplessly as she fell from so far up. The kids were safe, but he hadn’t been able to send a monster to save her in time.

He looked at the plain white ceiling through half open lids before letting his eyes slip closed, he felt so, so tired. Perhaps if he just slept for a bit, and gave in to the exhaustion that had been nagging at him every time he opened his eyes, perhaps he’d feel better then.

The rhythmic beeps continued for a few more moments, before devolving into a single, monotone beep. And shortly after it was joined by a second, unbroken beeping.


	2. Standard Arc part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't really have a set update schedule in mind, but I'll try to use the weekends to get a new chapter out.  
> Also, I made a slight tweak to Yuri's section in the previous chapter, so do check hat out if you haven't.
> 
> Also, there may not be much consistency in chapter length either ^^;

A miracle, that was what they were calling it, a miracle.

Three days ago two children had been rushed into Maiami City hospital with extensive injuries both internal and external, one Sakaki Yuya and one Hiragi Yuzu. It was some of the worst duel-related injuries they’d ever seen since Action Duels became popular, and all because of a glitch in the Solid Vision system’s density field, the system that allowed for the altering of the hardness of the holograms. Instead of having just enough give so as not to cause injury, the density had been shifted to be as life-like as possible.

It was horrific and the doctors worked day and night to stabilize and save the pair, but it was all for naught.

Only a day after bringing them in, their condition went south and within minutes of each other, both were lost. Their vitals were gone, no pulse to be picked up or breathing to be detected. It was a tragedy and the first recorded deaths due to injuries sustained in an Action Duel.

And then the miracle happened; they came back to life. The nurses had already begun to unhook them from the various forms of life support when they heard it, a soft moan from the bed. Yuya’s eyes fluttered slightly and his fingertips began to twitch and for the first time since he was admitted, he took a forced, shaky breath on his own. Moments later Yuzu followed suit and the doctors rushed to hook them back up and pray that this time they wouldn’t lose them. It was a miracle and this time they were going to make sure everything worked out.

Over the next few days the pair drifted in and out of consciousness, and attracting more than their fair share of visitors, friends and family alike.

 

Yuya cracked an eye open slowly as the blanket of sleep broke over him. Turning his head slightly he could faintly make out a large, blurred shape beside him and felt something touch his hand gingerly.

“Shh, it’s alright dear, it’s over now,” came his mother’s calming voice. “Just rest ok?”

“Mrghh.” He opened his mouth to try to speak, only to find his speech impeded by a tube that ran down his throat.

“Don’t try to speak, just rest alright hun?” Her gaze softened as she stroked his hair with her other hand. “You’ve been through a lot.”

Lifting his arm weakly, he gestured over to where Yuzu lay.

“She’s fine too, don’t worry.”

Yuya managed a weak smile before closing his eyes and drifting back to sleep.

 

Recovery was slow, painful and arduous and every inch of Yuya’s body hurt to move. It felt like he’d been run over by a truck, which if what he was hearing about what had happened was accurate, would be an apt description. The only reason he hadn’t been completely and utterly crushed to death under several hundred pounds of rock and steel from the collapsing bridge was because his opponent had called the duel off, surrendering and shutting down the Solid Vision holograms in the process.

 

Yuya leaned back against the pillow propping him up, he was going to need to thank Sawatari the next time he saw him, while he may have started the duel that got them into this mess, he also saved his life, his and Yuzu’s both.

Yuzu was also awake, sitting up and reading, now that they’d both been considered stable enough to move out of the ICU. Her pink hair hung loose around her shoulders, the hairpins and ties sitting on the table beside the bed.

Unfortunately, despite their begging, and their surprisingly fast recovery, they weren’t well enough to be discharged yet, as evidenced by, among other things, the many bandages that wrapped around Yuya’s torso, the IVs in their arms and the cast on Yuzu’s leg.

“Yuzu,” he asked after a moment, lifting his head slowly.

“Hm? What is it Yuya?”

“Was it a dream?” he asked, tuning to look at her. “Not the accident, after. That strange world, with the red sky and the gold clouds, and the spires of red crystal. That world was real right?”

“Yuya…” She closed her book quietly. “I thought it was a dream, but if you saw it too then…”

He nodded, “Then we really did, die. And that place is real and we’re,” he raised a hand and touched the crystal pendulum around his neck, miraculously it had not been destroyed in the accident and after some convincing he got the staff to allow him to keep it while he was in the hospital. “What do we do now Yuzu?” he asked.

She opened her mouth to respond but stopped short when the door to their shared room opened and several people came barreling in.

“Yuya-niichan! Big sis Yuzu!” Three voices squealed happily as three kids, no more than 8 came charging through and towards their beds.

A girl with short, fire red hair flung her arms around Yuzu excitedly, laughing as she hugged her. Following behind her were a boy with short blue hair, dressed in a white shirt and vest, and a portly blond haired boy in green overalls and a yellow sweater.

“Ayu, Tatsuya, Futoshi! What are you doing here?” asked Yuzu, putting aside her book to return the hug.

“We could hardly keep them away,” laughed Yoko, leaning in the doorway, arms folded over her chest. “They were very insistent about seeing the two of you.”

“We were so worried about you,” said Ayu, squeezing Yuzu. “Oh, we brought someone else too!” She slipped out of Yuzu’s arms and bounded to the door, reaching outside. “Come on, you can say hi too!”

“Ahh, easy, easy!” Ayu came back in, dragging behind her a boy that couldn’t have been any older than Yuya. He was dressed almost uniformly, with grey pants, a black shirt and blue jacket. His blue hair was pulled behind him in a ponytail, and a sucker stick was clenched in his teeth to keep from dropping it.

“He really wanted to meet you Yuya!”

“Ah, me?” That was a surprise. He studied the boy carefully, he could swear he’d seen him somewhere before. “You, I saw you around the school didn’t I?”

The boy jumped before rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, “O-oh yeah. I saw your Pendulum summoning on t.v, and it was just so cool with how you made your monsters appear like that. I thought maybe if I joined then I could learn how to do that too.”

“Yuya! You’ll never guess what Sora can do!” squeaked Ayu, hopping up on the edge of the bed.

“Sora?” The boy gave a grin and pointed at himself.

“He can Fusion summon! Isn’t that cool?”

“Fusion?” asked Yuzu.

Tatsuya nodded, “Oh yeah, and he’s really good too, you should see him.”

Sora fidgeted nervously on the spot, poking his fingers together, “It’s not that special, almost everyone uses Fusion where I come from. But I’ve never seen anything like your Pendulum Summoning. I really wanted to meet you and learn but, well, you sort of ended up here before I could talk to you.” He looked up at Yuya with wide green eyes, clapping his hands together, “When you get out of here, do you think you could teach me?”

Yuya gulped, trying to look anywhere but his pleading gaze. “I uh, I don’t know. I mean I don’t think I’d be a very good teacher.”

“Hey, Sora was it?” asked Yuzu. “Ayu said you can Fusion summon right? Do you think you could teach me how?” Sora opened his mouth to speak but she continued, “If you teach me, I can get Yuya to teach you how to Pendulum Summon,” she added with a wink.

Sora’s eyes widened gleefully, “Really? You’d do that for me?”

“Hey, I never agreed to this.” Yuya began to protest about his sudden, volunteered involvement in the situation but they weren’t listening.

Sora grinned, holding his hand out to Yuzu, “I hope you’re ready to learn when you get out of here,” he said. “Because I’m going to make you the best Fusion summoner around.”

 

Yuya sighed as he lay back on his bed, after Sora and the kids stopped by it had been one whirlwind of excitement after another. Shortly after lunch Yuzu’s father stopped in, nearly crushing the girl with an over enthusiastic hug. For once she didn’t seem to mind his embarrassing actions, returning the gesture happily, tears brimming in her eyes. After that they where wheeled around the hospital, the kids excitedly telling them how the were going to be taking part in the Jr. Youth Championship and wishing that Yuya and Yuzu could as well.

There was no way they’d be recovered in time to take part, or even get the required wins in Yuya’s case.

Gongenzaka stopped by for a little while as well, though thankfully he didn't try to encase Yuya in a bone-crushing hug, instead settling for a clap on the shoulder.

After shuttling the kids off home the pair returned to their rooms and, after another check up, were allowed to relax.

“I can’t believe we’re not going to make it to the tournament,” said Yuya as he lay back on the bed, staring at the pristine white ceiling of the hospital room.

“We’ll just have to cheer on everyone else then,” said Yuzu with a smile.

Yuya returned the smile and nodded.

Ordinarily he would have been more upset about this, he’d been looking forward to entering for a while, as it could be a huge chance for him on the way to going pro. Would have, in not for the fact that there were more pressing things on his mind, such as that strange other world they’d spent some time in and what they’d leaned there. If what they’d learned there was true, this were going to end up a lot more complicated.


	3. Standard Arc part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit late on the new chapter.  
> Going to apologize now for two things,  
> 1) Inconsistent chapter length, I can't promise they'll all be around the same length, some may be longer than others.  
> 2) That it might seem like it's, dragging at first. Plot will happen I assure you.

_Yuya’s eyes flew open with a gasp and he sat bolt upright, his heart pounding in his chest. Had it been a dream? Had the duel been just a dream? No, there was no way, all that pain and fear, that had been real. But if that was the case, did that mean this was a dream? He certainly didn’t hurt any more; breathing, moving, none of it hurt to do._

_He raised a hand to his head and stopped as the colour of his skin caught his eye. Red, he was a deep crimson red. Gold braces encircled his wrists, each set with a green gemstone, and blue stones were set farther up his arms, literally set in his skin._

_He yelped in surprise and stumbled backwards as he attempted to stand, this had to be a dream then, it had to be, otherwise what else was it?_

_“Ok, I need to stay calm, panicking will only make this worse. I just look like I got covered in paint and I’m…not at home at all.” His gaze was drawn from his own form and out the window of the building he was in and to that which lay around it._

_Shaking, he pulled himself to his feet and stumbled out on to what appeared to be a balcony for a better look._

_The sky above him was a rich, vibrant red, like a perpetual sunset, and was dotted with shimmering golden clouds._

_From the ground rose spires of blue and red crystals, many of which were carved into shapes of buildings. The building that Yuya was in seemed to be made of a fine blue crystal, the walls and sides smooth in contrast to the smaller and more jagged ones below._

_In the distance sparkled a sea, shining gold like the clouds._

_In the sky hung a strange, pale silver-blue orb, a sun perhaps. It seemed to give off a pleasing feel and Yuya felt at peace just by looking at it. Despite the, alienness of the place, it held a beauty that Yuya couldn’t explain._

_“That is the source of this world’s power if you were wondering,” said a male sounding voice from behind Yuya._

_He spun around to face the speaker, grabbing the balcony railing behind him for support._

_The first thing he noticed about the speaker was their skin tone, while his own was a rich, vibrant red, theirs was a purple-grey and their arms were dotted with tiny violet gemstones. The second thing he noticed was that the speaker had no mouth, or if they did it was hidden behind the grey mask that concealed everything from the nose on down. Quickly touching his own face in response to that sight, Yuya quickly confirmed that he too lacked a mouth and nose._

_His hair, and Yuya only assumed the speaker was a he, was dual toned, black with purple spiked bangs. Behind him trailed a black cape, the outside studded with red gems. Much like the gold manacles on Yuya’s arms, he wore a silver one on his left arm which was set with what seemed to be a large blue stone in the middle._

_“Take it easy, don’t need you going over the edge in a panic. I have no intentions of hurting you, and neither does anyone else.” He turned and looked over his shoulder before calling out, “Yugo, Yuri, I found him, you can stop looking now.”_

_“Found me, what do you mean found me?” asked Yuya. “How did you know I was here, and where IS here anyways? And what are you? And what am I?”_

_To his surprise, the young man laughed before placing a gentle hand on Yuya’s shoulder, “You sound like Yugo when he first arrived. Come, you have a lot of questions that need to be answered. And my name is Yuto.”_

_“Yuto,” Yuya sounded the name out before nodding that he understood. “Yuya, Sakaki Yuya.”_

_As he followed Yuto back into the, building, two more figures, presumably male by their build, came in from another door. One was white as snow with pale green and blue armour and gold and blue hair, his skin dotted with gold gems. The second had pale red skin, dotted with similarly gold gems and jagged red marks dragging across his chest and face, as if he’d been haphazardly put back together. A pair of peculiar crimson wings sprouted from his back and every now and then the end of one would twitch._

_Now Yuya was definitely sure this had to be some kind of strange dream, that was the only explanation for this strange place and the equally strange people._

_“So is he the last one?” asked ivory white figure._

_Yuto nodded, “The girls are searching for the source of the second distortion now, after that we should have everyone.”_

_Yuya glanced between the 3 in confusion; everything they were saying was going right over his head. “Distortion?”_

_“When you arrived here it created a, distortion in the energy of this world, it’s how we knew to look for you,” explained Yuto. “You and, one other.”_

_“One other…you mean Yuzu is here? What is this place? How did we get there?”_

_“Well,” Yuto began but the winged figure cut him off._

_“You didn’t tell him yet Yuto?” they asked, drumming their fingers on their arms._

_“I’m getting there, I just don’t want to shock him and-“_

_“You’re dead.”_

_“Yuri!”_

_“Well I’m not going to sugar coat it,” said the winged figure, presumably Yuri, as the other two glared at him. He looked at Yuya, “If you’re here in the Barian world you’re dead, just like us. Plain and simple.”_

_“I’m, dead?”_

_Yuto sighed, giving Yuya a sympathetic look. “Yuya I’m sorry.”_

_“Does that mean Yuzu is too? Where is she, I-I have to find her!” Before Yuto had a chance to respond, Yuya was gone, charging off to find Yuzu._

_“Yuzu! Yuzu!” Yuya ran through the palace in a blind panic, heart hammering in his chest. He had to find Yuzu he just had to. He shook his head, he couldn’t be dead he just couldn’t be. And Yuzu, no she couldn’t be dead either; the last thing he wanted was for her to have died because of his duel._

_It wasn’t fair; she didn’t deserve a fate like that._

_He skidded to a stop as he came to the top of a set of stairs that led outside and onto a wide terrace. His gaze was instantly drawn to the figure sitting on the ground, the pink hair and lavender eyes were unmistakable, even in the form she was in. “Yuzu!”_

_“Yuya?” She met his gaze at the sound of his voice, and her voice confirmed what he’d previously thought, that it was Yuzu._

_He ran to her, sinking to his knees as he embraced her in a tight hug, tears brimming in his eyes._

_“If you’re here then-then we really are…” he trailed off as tears rolled down his cheeks. “It’s all my fault, you only got involved because of me and now look what happened.”_

_Her arms wrapped around him gently, “Yuya, it’s not your fault. I decided to go with you remember?” Carefully she sought out his hands, taking them in her own, “Please don’t blame yourself, ok? We’ll be fine.”_

_Yuya closed his eyes, pressing his face into the crook of her neck. “What do we do Yuzu? What do we do?”_

_“Well you could stop running off for starters,” came Yugo’s voice. “I mean, you can really move but geeze.”_

_“Yugo shut up you aren’t helping,” hissed Yuto._

_“Besides, you didn’t react any better Yugo,” came a girl’s voice from somewhere behind Yuzu. “Give him a bit to adjust, this is a big shock after all.”_

_Yuya lifted his head up and for the first time noticed that someone else was out there with them. Much like Yugo she had pale skin dotted with tiny green gems. Her hair was short, green and curled and she had shining brown eyes._

_“That’s not fair Rin,” mumbled Yugo._

_“Rin, could you find Ruri and Selena, and tell them we have everyone and to meet us in the throne room?” asked Yuto. He turned to Yuya and Yuzu, “You said that you wanted some answers Yuya? If you both follow me I think we can give you some.”_

_“It’s known as the Barian world,” explained Yuto as they walked through the halls. “And yes, as Yuri said, if you are here it means that you, died, unfortunately.”_

_Yuzu squeezed Yuya’s hand comfortingly as they trailed behind Yuto. “I guess we were hurt worse than I thought in that duel,” said Yuya. “I hope everyone else is doing alright.”_

 

Yuya curled a hand around the pendulum around his neck, the other arm draped across his stomach.

Barians, that’s what Yuto had called them, specifically the Barian Lords, the guardians and protectors of the Barian World. At a first glance the world had seemed peaceful, but it was anything but.

 

_“You can feel it can’t you?” asked Yuto as they stood on the balcony, looking up at the orb in the sky._

_“I feel, something,” said Yuya with a nod. “Like it feels, off.”  
_

_“Someone’s trying to force their way in,” he said. “We don’t know why, or who, but we can feel it, and it’s not good.”_

_“What do you think they want?”_

_Yuto shrugged, “Who knows, to destroy the place, the steal its power, to take it over. Nothing good whatever the case.”_

_“And it’s up to us to keep this place safe?” asked Yuya._

Protectors, that seemed like a lot of responsibility to take up, especially since they didn’t even know who or what they were protecting it from.

He released the pendulum, letting it fall against his chest with a sigh, if they were supposed to be protecting it, why had they been sent back? Was the threat here?

' _What are we even supposed to do?'_ he thought, leaning the back of his hand against his forehead. ' _We can’t even leave this room._ '

“You’re awfully quiet tonight,” said Yuzu. “Something on your mind?”

“Yeah, too much. You?”

“I was thinking about what they said, about there being other dimensions.”

Ordinarily Yuya would have said that such a thing was crazy, impossible even, but given everything that had happened and was happening, and that they were standing in an another world after having died, there was little he wouldn’t believe at the time.

Yuto and Ruri were from the ‘Xyz’ dimension; Yugo and Rin were from ‘Synchro’ and Yuri and Selena were from ‘Fusion’, each dimension so named because of the summoning method used in duels there. Yuya and Yuzu’s dimension was the odd one out, simply called ‘Standard’ because all of the summoning methods were present there. Eight Barian lords, two from each dimension, it was almost too perfect.

“I wonder what the other dimensions are like,” she said, leaning back in the bed. “Think maybe we’ll get to see them sometime? They did say that the Barian World was linked to all of them.”

“I think we’d have to figure how to do that though, I don’t even know how we ended up here,” said Yuya. “Or, back here I guess. I mean we died after all, so we shouldn’t even be here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you know, I drew up the designs for the Yu's Barian forms?  
> Because I did.  
> http://authoratmidnight.tumblr.com/post/143194696860/done-my-barian-yus-are-done-d-theyll-each-get
> 
> I'll work on the girls eventually.


	4. Standard Arc part 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And thus the plot starts to get moving, sort of.

‘If’, that was something that Shuzo Hiragi heard frequently after Yuzu was admitted to the hospital in critical condition. If she wakes up, if she makes it. Not when but if, that was how unsure of her fate they were.

He’d never felt more helpless than the day she’d slipped away, right before his eyes.

Yoko had to drag him from the room to give the doctors room to work.

Then like a miracle, she came back, even though the doctors had pronounced her dead, she came back.

That didn’t change one big if, if she would ever walk again. The fall had caused extensive damage to her legs and lower back and the doctors weren’t sure that Yuzu would even be able to walk, should she ever wake up.

 

Physical therapy was hell. Every step was painful and Yuzu’s legs threatened to give out under her, even with the bars on either side as support. Yuzu was determined though, she was going to make sure she could walk and prove them all wrong, no matter how much it hurt.

Her cast had finally been removed, but after over a month of disuse from being confined to bed, combined with the damage done in the fall, she could barely walk. The fact that she had even feeling in her legs and was able any kind of movement at all was yet another miracle in and of itself.

Hissing in pain, she gripped the bars tightly as she walked, at the other end was her dad, shouting his encouragement. She wanted to be embarrassed by him, being over dramatic and over the top in front of everyone was normal for him, but she couldn’t be, not now.

She could still remember the day he’d come to see her after she woke up and the way he held her. The way his shoulders shook and his voice cracked when he spoke, and the tears that ran freely down his cheeks.

“Thank god, thank god, I thought I’d lost you forever.” She wasn’t sure how many times he’d repeated those words since then, but it was enough that she wasn’t going to forget them any time soon, or the relief in his voice when he spoke.

He stood at the other end of the walkway, cheering her on as tears of joy brimmed around the edges of his eyes.

With another huff she took a step, clenching he eyes shut against the pain and stiffness that threatened to down her.

‘ _I can do this,_ ’ she told herself. ‘ _I have to._ ’

Each step was more painful than the last but she pressed on, determined to make it all the way this time.

Her hands slipped and she felt her legs give out from under her, finally giving in to pain and weakness.

“You did great baby girl,” said Shuzo, arms wrapping around he as her caught her mid fall. “You did great today, I’m proud of you.”

She’d made it about ¾ of the way this time, farther than before, though not all the way like she’d hoped.

Yuzu sighed, leaning against him as he scooped her up carefully. “I think I’ve had enough for today,” she said. “Everything hurts to much to try again. Can you take me back to my room?”

 

Yuya was flipping through channels on the t.v when Yuzu came back, wheeled in by her dad.

“So how’d it go?” he asked, setting the remote down.

Yuzu beamed, “I set a personal best, even if I still can’t walk all the way yet.”

“At this rate you’ll be walking in no time! You’ll show those doctors that Yuzu Hiragi doesn’t give up.”

Yuzu laughed, “I think you’re laying the sap on a bit thick there, dad.”

“Maybe,” Shuzo laughed, rubbing the back of his head. “But you showed’em once, you’ll do it again.” His voice cracked slightly. “Ah but listen to me, Yuya how are you doing?”

He held an arm up, to show the IVs sticking out of it, “A regular pin cushion, again.” He sighed; he was going to be happy when they stopped poking him with needles, either to inject him with things or to draw blood.

“I’m sure they just want to make sure you’re healthy.”

Yuya sighed, “I know, but I’ll be glad when it stops.”

Shuzo bid them goodbye, telling Yuya he’d let his mother know how he was doing and that she was sorry she couldn’t make it.

They weren’t alone long when the door opened and in walked not a nurse, but a somewhat familiar face. It took Yuya a few moments but the hair gave it away.

“Yuto?”

The teen smiled, actually smiled because this time he looked like a person, complete with a mouth with which to smile.

“I see you remembered me,” he said, closing the door behind him.

“What are you doing here?” asked Yuzu. “I mean, aren’t you dead?”

“I am, but it seems that crystal of Yuya’s holds a few surprises.” He rolled up his sleeve to reveal a silvery manacle, set with a pale blue gem, something they recognized from the Barian World.

“This is a Baria Crystal, you probably saw them everywhere in the Barian World.” He then pointed at Yuya’s pendulum pendant, “That is also a Baria crystal, and one infused with energy from the Barian World, energy it infused our crystals with. That’s how I was able to come here, we can use them to go between the Barian World and Earth.”

“I guess that’s how we got back here then,” said Yuzu.

"Most likely." Yuto nodded before reaching into a pant pocket, “And of course the actual reason for my visit,” he pulled out a crumpled piece of paper and set it on the table beside Yuya’s bed.

“What’s what?” asked Yuzu, craning her neck to see what he’d put down.

“An address,” he said. “Once you get out of here you can find us there.” He looked to Yuya, then to the door-which Yuya had been casually watching-then back to Yuya. “Is something wrong? You’ve been watching that door for a bit.”

“Hm? Oh no, it’s just that Gongenzaka stopped by earlier, and I asked him if he could bring Sawatari around,” said Yuya. “And it sounds like he’s coming down the hall now. I was just trying to figure out how you were going to leave without being noticed.”

Sure enough the sound of Gongenzaka’s metal sandals could be heard clinking against the smooth tile floor out in the hall.

“I wouldn’t know how to explain you to him if I tried. I mean, two of me walking around?”

Yuto laughed, adjusting his cloak, it was true, Yuto, along with Yugo and Yuri could have passed themselves off as Yuya’s twins if they tried. “I guess that’s my cue to leave then.” With a quick tap on the gem, the air around him warped as a hole seemed to open up, a multitude of colours shining through on the other side. “I’m sure we’ll see one another soon,” he said with a nod as he walked towards it and in an instant both the portal and Yuto vanished before either Yuzu or Yuya could ask what on earth that was.

Not a moment to soon either, as seconds later the door to the hospital room opened and Gongenzaka stomped in, dragging a meek looking Sawatari by the arm.

“I take it back, you can take me home now,” he protested, trying in vain to pull out of the large teen’s grip.

“And deal with that vulture fest again? No way,” said Sora as he followed in behind him. “I’m surprised we got you in here as it is with all those reporters around your house.”

Sawatari looked like he was trying to simultaneously hide behind Gongenzaka and free himself from his grip, neither of which was working as Gongenzaka was built like a wall with a grip to match. All the while, he never once looked at Yuya or Yuzu.

“Sawatari?”

The fair-haired teen froze when he heard Yuya’s voice and ceased his struggles. After a moment he looked up, shaking as he met Yuya’s gaze.

“I’m sorry!” he blurted. “This wasn’t supposed to happen, no one was supposed to get hurt I swear. Please, please don’t sue me! There was a glitch in the system, how was I supposed to know?”

“Glitch?” Yuya frowned, that was the first he’d heard of it. Everyone had been fairly hush-hush about the accident, all he knew was what little he could remember, a duel going horribly wrong.

“Y-yeah, “ stammered Sawatari. “The Solid Vision system glitched up and it raised the density field. I swear I had no idea. All I wanted were the Pendulum cards.”

“A glitch, so, that’s what happened then.” Yuya’s frown deepened as he gripped the sheets. Why had no one told him anything about this?

“I guess they didn’t tell you either,” said Sawatari, who’d managed, somehow, to slip out of Gongenzaka’s grip and was sitting himself down in a chair. “Don’t be to surprised, they’ve been trying to cover everything about that incident up. Can’t have LDS looking bad now can they?”

Yuya looked up at Sawatari, setting him with a firm look. “Tell me everything.”

“Eh? Well, I can’t tell you everything, but I can tell you what I know,” he said.

Yuzu frowned slightly when she looked over at Yuya, he looked so, angry.

“Why did you want the Pendulum Cards?” asked Yuya. “Let’s start there.”

Sawatari sighed, running a hand through his hair, “I didn’t want them, but Akaba Reiji, the head of LDS, he wanted them.”

“Why?”

The blond shrugged, “I don’t know, he doesn’t tell me these things, he just said he wanted them. Probably to make these.” He reached into a pocket and pulled out a couple cards and held them out to Yuya. Pendulum cards, just like his.

Yuya sighed; he had wanted Pendulum summoning to be his thing. “And the duel?”

Sawatari rubbed the back of his head meekly after putting the cards away. “That was me, but he still gave me the go ahead to start. I guess he wanted to see how they worked.”

“So, Akaba Reiji, that’s who you were talking too?” asked Yuzu.

Sawatari nodded. “But then, after your uh, accident they started hushing everyone up. The LDS Chairwoman herself came to my house to tell me not to talk to anyone about this.” He shuddered slightly. “That woman is frightening.”

“Is that what all the reporters around your house were about?” asked Sora, who was now perched on the side of Yuzu’s bed.

Sawatari wilted slightly, “Unfortunately, because everyone thinks I did it on purpose, that I tried to hurt you. And I can’t even defend myself or Akaba will ruin me, it’s not fair.”

Yuya clenched his jaw, so he’d been right; someone else had been watching their duel, someone who could have stopped it.

“Fair? Not fair is that this all could have been avoided if they’d just stopped the duel, not fair is putting our families through all this pain worrying about us. Not fair is involving innocent people in a duel they were not part of.” Yuya’s hands trembled as the held the edge of the sheets. He felt so, angry, more than he’d ever felt before, and he wasn’t sure whom it was even directed towards.

Yuzu maneuvered herself to the side of Yuya’s bed, gently placing a hand over his. “Yuya please…”

At her touch he looked up and felt all of his anger begin to slip away. “I’m sorry Yuzu, I just-you got hurt because of this. And Ayu and Tatsuya and Futoshi almost got hurt as well.”

“Is it true?” asked Sawatari. “Did you two actually, die?”

Still holding Yuya’s hand, Yuzu turned to him and nodded, “It’s true.”

There was a thump as Sawatari ungracefully fell out of his chair and hit the floor. He was white as a sheet and shaking all over.

“Oh god, oh my god I killed two people. I’m a murderer. Oh god, I don’t want to go to jail! I never meant to kill anyone.”

“Does it really count as murder if they’re both still alive?” asked Sora, swinging his feet back and forth.

Yuya sighed, “I’m not that mad at you Sawatari, and I’m not going to press charges. You did stop the duel after all, so thank you for that.”

Yuzu nodded in agreement, “We’re just surprised that’s all. No one told us about the glitch, or any of this. I can’t believe they would hide something like this.”

“I can,” said Sora, twisting a sucker around in his hand before popping it into the corner of his mouth. “I mean, it would make LDS look bad wouldn’t it, if they caused someone to get hurt, or worse. No one would want to go there. Not to mention they’re also trying to deal with all the attacks on students and faculty.”

“Attacks?”

Sawatari nodded as he crawled into his chair, “I don’t know to much, it’s not like they tell me anything after all, but someone’s been targeting people, teachers, from LDS.” He looked to Sora and pointed an accusing finger at him, “And how do you know? It’s not you is it?”

“Psh, as if. I’m just good at listening that’s all.”

Sawatari thought for a moment before deciding it was a good enough answer for him before shifting about in his chair. “You know, if you’re not going to eat that, I will.” He pointed to the untouched meal on Yuya’s beside table.

Yuya glanced over the dish, cold scrambled eggs, toast and a few sausages. He’d completely forgotten about it after the orderly brought it to him earlier that day. It was strange, he hadn’t eaten at all and yet he didn’t feel the least bit hungry. In fact, he was pretty sure if it hadn’t been for the fact that Sawatari had said something he might have forgotten it entirely.

“It’s a bit cold, I don’t think it’d taste to good,” he said.

* * *

 

Yuto sighed as he stepped back out onto the streets of Standard, or at least an alleyway. While he’d finally figured out how to move between the Barian World and Earth, there didn’t seem to be a way to move between two points in one dimension, save for on foot. So after leaving Yuya and Yuzu he slipped back into the Barian world, before slipping back onto Earth, long enough to update Yuri and Selena on the situation with Yuzu and Yuya.

He adjusted his cloak, brushing dust off his sleeves before pulling his red scarf up over his face. He had to be careful, with a face so similar to Yuya’s he couldn’t draw unwanted attention to himself, so he had to stay out of sight.

He could go back to the warehouse, but Rin and Yugo were busy building something so they’d be too engrossed in that to even notice him. A walk around Maiami City would do him some good anyways; he could always pick up good gossip that way and familiarize himself with its layout.

Yuya and Yuzu were in good hands, he’d checked out the You Show Duel School out of curiosity, making careful sure he wasn’t spotted. They had good friends there, and family. There was one person that had given him cause for concern at first, the newest duelist at the school, Sora Shiunin, a fusion user.

He tried to put it off as his personal bias, like he had when he met Yuri initially. He hoped it was nothing but he was still going to keep a watchful eye out for him, just in case. One could never be too cautious with fusion users after all.

He stopped and looked up at the LDS building, he’d heard too many rumours about the place in the last few months, mainly pertaining to what had happened to Yuya and Yuzu. It was unsettling to say the least.

As Yuto tuned to leave he collided with someone, finding his face nearly in their chest.

“Sorry, excuse me,” he muttered, side stepping to get around them.

A hand grabbed his arm, stopping him from going any farther past him.

“What are you-“ he froze, the words dying in his throat as he looked up at the person who had grabbed him. No, there was no way. Those gold eyes, the teal hair, the tattered purple jacket.

“Shun?”

The man’s grip tensed as his eyes hardened on Yuto. “How do you know that name?”

Without so much as a second thought, Yuto ripped the bandanna from over his face, to overjoyed at the sight of his friend to even consider the consequences this would have.

Shun released his arm and stepped back, horror, shock and confusion flashing across his face as he stared down at him. “You can’t be, that’s not possible,” he said, keeping his left arm raised in an almost defensive position.

“It’s me, Yuto.” Shun was alive, he couldn’t believe, he was alive! The last time he’d seen Shun the duelist had been thrown through a window when an Antique Gear Golem attacked. Yuto had been helpless to do anything, pinned under a fallen building. He’d always thought he’d died that day, but had never known one way or another.

Shun’s face twisted in a pained grimace as he narrowed his eyes at Yuto. “No, you can’t be him, you’re not Yuto. Yuto’s dead.” He brought a hand over his duel disk and Yuto took a tentative step back, hoping things wouldn’t get ugly. “Who are you, wearing Yuto’s face like this?”

“I told you Shun, it’s me Yuto, your friend.”

“No you aren’t don’t lie!” he snapped as the duel disk blade materialized itself. “Yuto is dead, I buried him myself well over a year ago. Is this some kind of, sick Fusion trick now, to lure us out by wearing the faces of the dead?”

Yuto felt his stomach fall, that was going to make things increasingly difficult, because Shun wasn’t just aware of his death, he was witness to it. He cursed and took another step back; he didn’t want to fight Shun, not like this.

“Shun, I’m sorry,” he said. “I really am. But, I have no intention of fighting you.” He put his hand on the Baria crystal and once again a portal ripple open behind him. “I really am sorry Shun.”

Before Shun could even move Yuto was gone, stepping back into the multi hued portal and vanishing. The last thing he heard before the portal closed and he found himself back in the Barian world was Shun calling out his name.

 

“Damnit, how could I be so stupid?” Yuto slammed his fist into a stone pillar with a furious cry. “What was I thinking?”

“You must be having a bad day,” mused Yuri, leaning against the edge of the doorframe. “You don’t normally make two trips here. That or you really wanted to visit me.”

“I screwed up Yuri,” said Yuto as his arm fell to his side. “I messed up big time.”

The winged Barian sighed, “Clearly, so are you staying this time?”

“I might as well, I can’t show my face there for a while.”

“Not that I care that much, but what did you do?”

Yuto sighed, following Yuri as they started walking. “I ran into an old friend today. Someone I thought died, back then.”

“The invasion?”

Yuto nodded, “Yes, he was a friend, someone I knew before. But I thought he died. All this time I thought he was dead. But he survived Yuri, he’s alive. And I screwed up. I showed myself to him and made a mess of things.” He made a frustrated sound as he put his hand to his head.

Yuri made a whistling sound and chuckled, “Ah yes, that sounds like something that would go great doesn’t it?”

Yuto narrowed his eyes and looked away, he hated that Yuri was right. “It went horribly. He knew I was dead, and now he thinks it was some kind of, Fusion trick.”

Yuri laughed, “Oh you really did a number on your friend didn’t you?”

“It’s not funny,” snarled Yuto.

“Oh but it is. Really, what did you think would happen Yuto, when you revealed yourself to someone who hadn’t seen you in years?”

“That’s the problem, I didn’t think. And now I have to figure out how to tell Ruri about this.”

“Eh? Why would you have to do that?”

“Because,” said Yuto, “Shun’s her brother. She deserves to know”

 

By the time Yuto returned to Standard it was dark out; Yugo and Rin were asleep in a heap on the couch, a blanket tossed haphazardly over them and Ruri was picking up their mess.

“I was wondering when you’d be coming back,” said Ruri when she heard Yuto enter. “Long day?”

“You could say that." He paused, "Ruri, you’ll never believe who I ran into today.”

“Oh?”

“I ran into Shun. Ruri, he’s alive.”


	5. Standard Arc part 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to skip through most of their hospital stay and have them recover inhumanly fast because otherwise they'd have missed most of the plot. I'm just chalking it up to something along the lines of 'Barians heal faster than humans' and leaving it at that.

“Come on Yuya,” pleaded Sora, tugging his arm as he pulled him towards the You Show Duel School dueling arena. “You promised to show me a Pendulum Summon.”

“No I didn’t,” he sputtered, “Yuzu promised that not me.”

Sora gave an exaggerated pout as he looked up at Yuya. “Please? I really want to learn how.”

Yuya and Yuzu had finally been released from the hospital. Their recovery had been shockingly fast, many months faster than what the doctors had expected and with fewer complications.

Yuzu still had some difficulties walking on her own, long distances left her a bit sore and tired, but she was no longer in blinding pain with every step.

Yuya had been discharged first, though he found himself occasionally winded after running or exerting himself, more so than he used to be.

 

He looked at the area and gulped, this would be the first time he’d been back since being discharged. Although he’d been by You Show Duel School several times since being released he’d been almost subconsciously avoiding the arena and hadn’t actually dueled. If he went through with this it would be the first time he’d set foot in the arena.

Knowing that he was coming back, Sora had dragged him to the arena, followed by Yuzu and the kids, who were very eager to see a duel.

“Come on Yuya, what’s the harm in one duel?” asked Yuzu. “You’ll get rusty if you don’t practice.”

“Ah, I know,” he said, running a hand through his hair. “But I just…” he looked at the arena, then back at everyone else, and the hopeful, eager looks in their eyes. “Fine, one duel then.”

There were cheers as the kids rushed to the observation window while Yuya and Sora made their way onto the field.

“Shouldn’t we wait for your dad to get here?” asked Yuya, pausing in the doorway for a moment.

“It’s ok, I can handle this,” said Yuzu. “I’ve done it before you know.”

He smiled, “Alright.” He turned and bounded into the arena, opposite Sora, who was impatiently bouncing from foot to foot, and somehow had not dropped the sucker that stuck out of the corner of his mouth.

“You guys ready?” asked Yuzu, her voice sounding over the speakers.

“Definitely.”

“Oh yeah.”

There was a beep as Yuzu pressed a button and the field began to change.

A world of bright colours washed over the arena, a house of gingerbread and icing, a garden of sugar coated gummies; a pond of sweet, sticky pop and a forest of translucent lollypops sprang up around them. It was a world of candy and sweets and Sora gave a tiny squeal of joy.

 

“ ** _Duelists locked in battle! Kicking the earth and dancing in the air alongside their monsters!_**

**_They storm through this field! Behold! This is the newest and greatest evolution of Dueling!_ **

**_ACTION DUEL!_** ”

 

They chanted in unison as the field spell took over the field, scattering a mess of Action Cards in a brilliant burst when they finished.

“Duel!”

“I’ll let you take the first move,” said Sora with a mock bow, “Since this is your first time back.”

Yuya grinned, “How kind of you. Then I’ll summon Entermate Discover Hippo in attack mode and, that’s all.” A pink hippo in a vest and top hat materialized on the field with a joyful squeak sound. It trotted around Yuya for a moment before stopping beside him. “Now let’s get this started,” he cheered, hopping onto its back like one would a horse.

“I activate my Toypot magic card,” said Sora. “Now, at the cost of discarding a card, I can draw one, and if it’s a level 4 of lower monster, I can summon it.” He did just that, sending one card from his hand to the graveyard and drawing one. A grin flashed across Sora’s face as he slapped it down on the blade. “Time to welcome my Furnimal Bear!” A fluffy looking pink teddy bear with wings and a red scarf materialized on the field. “And now I summon Furnimal Leo to the field.” A winged stuffed lion took to the field, taking a spot beside the other monster.

Yuya was surprised, he hadn’t seen Sora duel before, but he’d been expecting more, candy-like monsters given his apparent addiction to suckers and anything with copious amount of sugar.

“Now, Leo, attack his Hippo!”

As the stuffed lion charged them, Yuya gave the hippo a tap, spurring it into a run across the marshmallow field. It got about half way before it tripped and plunged them into the soda pond. The lion overshot the pond, landing harmlessly on the other side as it looked around for its prey. After a moment the pair surfaced, crawling out onto the bank of the pond.

“Ehh, how’d we miss?” asked Sora.

Yuya held up his duel disk and the action card he’d grabbed, “Action Magic: Evade.”

Sora huffed in mock annoyance, “Fine, Furnimal Bear, you take out his hippo.”

Now the bear charged across the field as Yuya spurred his mount into another run. Looking ahead he spotted another card atop a large cake, he need that to keep from losing his monster. Yuya grinned as they bounded up the cake, he’d missed this feeling, this thrill of a fun duel, and he almost wondered why he’d been avoiding the place.

As the bear charged up behind them he felt the cake shudder violently under them and his mind blanked.

 

Yuzu watched as Yuya ran right past the action card he’d been gunning for, and the bear’s attack connected with the hippo, destroying it and knocking Yuya to the ground. She frowned, why had he ignored the card when he so obviously wanted it, that didn’t make any sense at all.

“Yuya, what are you doing?” she called, pressing the speaker system button.

Yuya was on his hands and knees among the marshmallows that made the ground, having harmlessly tumbled down the soft cake.

“Yuya?”

Still no response, and she was beginning to get worried.

“What’s wrong with Yuya-niichan?” asked Ayu, fingers and nose pressed to the glass of the viewing window, lifting herself onto her tiptoes to try and see.

“He doesn’t look so good,” said Tatsuya with a frown, craning his neck for a better look.

Futoshi fidgeted uncomfortably, “I don’t like these shivers.”

“Sora, what’s going on?” asked Yuzu.

 

Rough, heavy breathing and the furious beating of his heart was all Yuya could hear. Each deep breath and every rush of blood being pumped through his body, they were the only sounds that seemed to exist as he sat on his hand and knees. It was as if every other sound around him had vanished, drawn off far away, leaving him in a void.

“Yuya!”

A faint noise came from somewhere of behind him, but he didn’t move, every muscle in his body had tensed up when the ground shook under his monster’s feet. His chest clenched up and for a moment it was as if he couldn’t breathe. He felt his hippo vanish from under him when the attack connected, but he was barely aware it had happened.

All the memories from his last duel came rushing back, being flung across the field, the ground under him shaking, the screams, everything.

“Yuya!”

He clenched his eyes shut as he bowed his head, a tremor rippling through his body. The soft, marshmallow ground under him vanished, replaced by hard, smooth tiles under his fingers. Why couldn’t he move, why couldn’t he do anything? Why did he feel so scared?

Several pairs of hands touched his shoulders, slowly helping him to his feet. He reacted just enough to cling to the nearest arm, his legs shaking as he was lead out of the duel arena.

It was a strange sensation, like he wasn’t even there, but at the same time was. It was as if he was numb all over and everything had gone so far away.

“Yuya?” This time he reacted, looking up at Yuzu as he was sat down in a chair, a pair of hands still on his shoulders.

“Are you ok Yuya?” she asked, he voice soft and filled with concern. “What happened out there?”

He shook his head numbly as feeling began to return to his body, the strange, numbness from before disappearing. It felt as if he’d been returned to his own body form, wherever he’d gone.

“I don’t know,” he said, hunching his shoulders. “I felt everything shake and I just, froze.” He looked around for a moment and realize the second pair of hands belonged to Sora, who looked very concerned. “Ah, I’m sorry our duel got cut off.”

“I shouldn’t have pushed you into it in the first place,” he said, rubbing his arm awkwardly. “You weren’t ready to try again but I pushed you into it anyways.”

“Yo, what’s going on here?”

Their heads turned towards the voice as the door swung open, followed by the clank of meal on tile.

“Gongenzaka. Sawatari?”

While Gongenzaka wasn’t an unusual sight to see around You Show Duel School, despite not being a student there, Sawatari on the other hand was a very unusual sight. In fact he’d never set foot in the school as far as Yuya was aware, so what was he doing there, following behind Gongenzaka?

“Oh, _you’re_ back,” said Sora with a slight huff.

“Back?”

The blue haired boy nodded, “Yeah, he’s been hanging around here for a while.”

“He doesn’t really do much though,” said Tatsuya. “It’s like he wants to join the school but he’s too proud to come out and say it.”

“We thought he was just spying for LDS at first,” said Sora. “But he hasn’t even been back there since he dueled you so that’s not it. I still say he needs an attitude adjustment.”

“You know I’m standing right here, right?” asked Sawatari, folding his arms over his chest.

“Your point?”

“It’s rude that’s what.”

Yuya sighed, pulling his goggles down over his face. He really didn’t want to have to deal with this right now.

“Guys, knock it off,” snapped Yuzu, giving the bickering pair a near simultaneous slap upside the back of their heads before setting her hands on her hips. “If you’re going to fight take it outside.”

“Sorry Miss Yuzu,” mumbled Sora.

She turned to Sawatari, who was tugging at his collar nervously. “What? It’s not like anything’s changed since I saw you guys at the hospital. Everyone still thinks I hurt the two of you on purpose; no one wants to talk to me anymore. At least around here I don’t get dirty looks and people whispering about me.”

“Issat why your LDS pin’s missin?” asked Sora, pushing his sucker to the corner of his mouth and pointing to the collar of his shirt. “You drop out of there?”

“That’s none of your business,” he sad quickly, hands flying to cover it up. “So knock it off short stack.”

While they bickered again, and Yuzu tried to convince them again to stop or take it outside, Gongenzaka made his way around to Yuya, who’d been abnormally quiet and withdrawn the entire time, head bowed.

“Yuya?” As he placed a large hand on Yuya’s shoulder he felt the slight tremors that shook him.

“I’ll be ok,” said Yuya quietly, lifting his goggles as he looked up at his friend. “Just, give me a few minutes.”

“Ok, ok! We’ll behave!” yelped Sawatari.

Yuzu had them both by the collars, shooting them both dangerous looks.

“I’m going to get some fresh air,” said Yuya as he stood up. “Try and clear my head.” He gave a nod before slipping out to the side courtyard for some peace and quiet and fresh air.

He sighed as he leaned against the wall, face turned to the sky, one hand curled around his pendulum. He had really wanted to duel, so why had he reacted like that? It wasn’t as if Sora would hurt him on purpose, he knew that much. And yet as soon as the ground shook all he could think of was his last duel. He trembled and clenched his jaw as he bit back the emotions that threatened to spill forth.

“Yuya? Is everything alright?” asked Yuzu, stepping outside.

He looked over at her and forced a smile, “Yeah, I’m alright now. I just needed some air.”

 

“It’s 7-25, right?” asked Yuya, hands folded behind his head as he and Yuzu walked along the docks.

She nodded, holding up a rather crumpled and folded piece of paper. “That’s what it says, warehouse No. 7-25 at the docks.”

“I just hope we can find it among all these.”

After taking a breather outside, and leaving Sora and Sawatari to sort it out between themselves, Yuzu had suggested they go and check out the address that Yuto had given them some weeks ago. The address turned out to be a warehouse number, of which there were plenty down at the docks.

“I wonder why they’re in a warehouse though,” she mused, tapping her chin thoughtfully. “Seems a bit strange.”

Yuya shrugged, “Well they are all a bit strange so I guess it’s appropriate.”

“Yuya!”

He laughed, the first one since they’d left the school, “Well it’s true. But I guess we’re a bit strange now too, being, Barians or whatever Yuto called them. I wonder what they all look like, you know, as people.”

They continued on along the pier in silence, looking between the number on the paper and the numbers on the buildings around them, hoping to find a match.

The waves lapped playfully at the sides of the dock; occasionally a large one would breach the top, sending a spray of water across the cement before receding into the ocean.

“Yuzu, how come you wanted to learn Fusion summoning?” asked Yuya, breaking the silence.

While they’d been in the hospital, Sora had made frequent, almost regular trips in to visit Yuzu and teach her Fusion summoning-and on the off chance she wasn’t in the room when he got in or had some free time after, he would hop across the room to Yuya and try to weasel some kind of lesson on Pendulum summoning out of him.

“I want to get stronger,” she replied without so much as a hesitation. “I want to be able to protect myself, and the people I care about. If what Yuto said was true then we might face some dangerous people, I want to make sure I can protect myself so you don’t have to. And protect you if I have to.”

Yuya smiled, Yuzu was one of the strongest people he knew.


	6. Standard Arc part 5

_Yuto opened his eyes and was surprised to find himself staring at a deep red sky. Even when Heartland had been ablaze the sky had never been that red, but rather stained inky black with the rolling columns of smoke and ash._

_Sitting up, he felt over his chest and stomach, searching for any sort of wound. There should have been something, some mark to show for having been buried under literal tones of rubble._

_As his hands moved he noticed something was very, very wrong with him, and very different. His skin, from head to foot, had taken on a dark grey-violet colour and was embedded with tiny gems. He ran his hands over his face experimentally and shivered, it felt like there was something covering where his mouth should have been, like a mask._

_A tremor of panic began to creep up his spine, everything just felt so wrong. How had he gone from being buried under a collapsed building too, wherever he was?_

Barian World

_The words flashed in his mind in an instant and something told him they were right. Letting his hands, which had been holding his head moments earlier, fall to his sides, he looked around, for the first time taking in his surroundings._

_The place was like nowhere he’d ever seen before. It was beautiful, twisting crystal spires reached to the crimson sky, where streaks of gold clouds drifted lazily by._

_His grey eyes came to rest on the shimmering white shape in the sky. It looked like a sun, except he didn’t have to squint to look at it and the clouds almost seemed to circle it, as if drawn in by an unseen force. And the warmth it exuded, it was a heavenly feeling to Yuto._

_It was peaceful and reminded him of a warm spring day, the kinds of days spent lazing in the sun, just the three of them._

_“Shun, Ruri…” At the thought of his friends his chest tightened and he felt tears sting the corners of his eyes. They were gone now; the chances of him ever seeing them again were slim to none._

_Slowly he pulled himself to his feet, there was no sense sitting around after all, and if he walked perhaps he might find more people. Who knew, maybe Ruri had ended up there by some miracle as well._

_And walk he would, through the twisting spires of rose red crystal until he came to a sea and a lone figure seated by the edge, a pair of wings folded to their back._

 

“Yuto,” a voice droned above him and something malodorous was dropped onto his face. Cracking an eye open he reached up and peeled off the rag that had been dropped across his sleeping face.

“Really Yugo?” he asked, looking at the grease and oil covered duelist leaning on the back of the couch and looking down at him. His riding suit had been traded in, once again, for a pair of old jeans and a t-shirt and his arms were covered in dirt and grease almost all the way up to his elbows. A smudge of dirt graced his forehead from where he’d rubbed his arm across it at some point.

“Well nothing else was working to get you up. Ruri wanted me to tell you we have guests.”

With a sigh he sat up and tossed the rag back to Yugo. He had been sprawled lengthwise across the couch for a nap, but it seemed that was being cut short.

“What kind of guests?” he asked, swinging his legs around before stretching his arms over his head. “Expected or unexpected.”

“Expected, it’s Yuzu and Yuya.”

So they’d finally turned up, Yuto had been wondering when they would come around to visit.

“Well try not to scare them away,” said Yuto, dusting himself off as he stood up.

 

Yuya wasn’t sure what to make of the place now that he was inside. From the outside it looked like every other warehouse around there, plain and uninteresting and impossible to see into-the windows being just that high up. But inside it had been furnished, both levels, to looking very homely.

The upper level was more of a glorified, railed off landing that went around the edge of the warehouse than an actual floor. It contained what Yuya assumed were sleeping quarters, glorified beds made out of mattresses and blankets. There were a few more on the main floor, along side a number of crates, a couch and chairs and plenty of other things to make it livable.

Near the center of the room was, something, Yuya wasn’t sure what it was, but it was situated on a large tarp and surrounded by tools and parts.

“It’s alright, you can say it,” said Rin as she wiped her hands off on a cloth. “It looks like a bunch of scrap huh?”

“What is it?” asked Yuya.

“That is going to be a D-Wheel, Crystal Wing,” announced Yugo proudly. “Rin and I are making it.”

Yuzu gave them a confused look, “D-Wheel?”

Rin nodded, slinging the cloth over her shoulder, “They’re everywhere in our dimension, they’re used for riding duels. A cycle and duel disk in one.” She sighed, “But you don’t have things like that here, so it’s taking longer than usual to build it, a lot longer since we have to find a way to integrate the duel disk with the bike itself with only what we have here. But we’ll get there, I know we will.”

“And I’ll finally get to ride again.” Yugo gave a childish squeal of delight and Rin rolled her eyes.

“He needs his D-Wheel fix, his didn’t come with us so he hasn’t ridden for a while.” She tossed the rag to him, “Come on, help me clean up we have guests after all. And get something to cover it with.”

“Aye-aye ma’am.”

Yuzu looked around the room, took a count of everyone and looked back to Yuto. “I thought there were two more,” she said.

“Selena and Yuri. Yeah they’re not here, they’re back in the Barian World, they spend most of the time there,” he explained. “Selena should be around at some point, I wouldn’t hold your breath for Yuri.” He gestured to the room, “Make yourself comfortable if you want, we have the space.”

 

“Oh man, mom is going to kill me.” Yuya held his jacket tightly as he ran down the road. Because of the design of the warehouse they’d lost track of time while with the others and by the time they realized it, it had gotten dark out. Yuzu had already split off for her home, but Yuya still had a couple blocks to go. And what was more, he was supposed to be spending the next day helping the others to prepare for the Maiami Championship tournament. Neither he nor Yuzu may have been participating, but Sora, Ayu, Tatsuya and Futoshi were, so everyone was helping them to get ready.

He slowed to a brisk walk as he came up to his house, heart hammering in his chest. What was he supposed to say? How was he going to explain himself to his mother?

“I am so doomed!”

Sure enough, his mother was waiting patiently at the door, arms folded over her chest, fingers drumming against her arm.

Yuya gulped, “I’m…home?”

“Do you have something to say?” she asked. “Where you might have been for the past several hours perhaps?”

He rubbed the back of his head, “You see, Yuzu and I we uh, went off down to the docks and I guess we lost track of time.”

Yoko smiled, placing her hands on his shoulders, “Say no more, I understand. But Yuya, next time please, let someone know if you’re going to be late. I was getting worried, we all were.”

“I’m sorry, it won’t happen again.”

She clapped her hands happily, “Good, now you must be starving, Sora said you didn’t even stick around for lunch.”

Hungry, the thought of being hungry hadn’t even crossed his mind all day. In fact, it hadn’t crossed his mind for a while, not since he’d woken up in the hospital. “Oh yeah, right, I’m starving, what’s for dinner?”

“You better hurry!” called Sora from the dining room. “Or I’ll eat your share.”

 

Yuzu’s greeting was far more enthusiastic and excited, Shuzo wrapping her in a bear hug the moment she walked through the door.

“I’m sorry, I was with Yuya at the docks and we just lost track of time,” she said, peeling herself out of his arms.

“Ah, Yuya? I see now.” He grinned in a knowing manner and nodded.

“Dad?”

He slapped her shoulder and laughed, “Well I’m happy for you, now let’s eat.”

 

 

“I don’t care Yuto, I have to do this,” said Ruri, pulling a jacket on and pulling the hood up. “All this time, I’ve spent all this time thinking Shun was dead, and now I know he’s here in this dimension, in this city. Yuto, I can’t sit around any longer. I’m going to find him.”

“Did you forget what happened when I talked to him?” asked Yuto. “I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

“Just trust me ok Yuto? Now, where did you see him when you ran into him?”

He sighed, running a hand through his hair, there was no talking her out of it was there? “Around LDS’ main building.”

She nodded her thanks before heading out the door. She knew Yuto was worried, it was a risky thing to do after all, but she had to. She’d been holding off doing this since Yuto had told her about Shun, but she just couldn’t sit around any more. She had to see her big brother again.

 

The LDS main building was hard to miss, being the tallest thing in the city and proclaiming LDS right across the top in large letters. The chances of Shun being there were slim, but it was a starting point at any rate.

‘ _Oh Shun, where could you be?_ ’ she wondered as she started walking.

From his room in the LDS building, Shun noticed the cloaked figure wandering around, stopping every now and then to look around, as if searching for someone or something.

Eventually his curiosity got the better of him and he left to go confront them. At best it was someone trying to find a way to break in, at worst, well he didn’t want to think about that.

Every time Ruri got a short ways away from LDS she stopped and went back, a nagging feeling in her gut telling her to stay, that that was where she had to be. With a sigh, she started back towards the building.

A few times she’d debated going inside and asking someone if they’d seen anyone that looked like her brother around, but kept deciding against it.

“You there!” Ruri stopped as the voice ran out in the evening air. “What do you want?”

She stood in place holding her cloak tightly before slowly tuning to face Shun. It was now or never, if she didn’t do this she might never get the chance again. Slowly she lowered her hood. “Shun?”

Shock became anger and his face twisted in rage as he brought his left arm up in preparation for a duel. “The lengths you Fusion bastards will go to, to hurt us and drive in the point of what you did. First you wore Yuto’s face, but now you dare pretend to be my sister! That is unforgivable”

“Shun hear me out please!” Ruri stepped towards him, she had to get to get through to him somehow, she had to get him to listen, it was the only way.

“No.”

“Kurosaki Shun! You will hear me out!” Her outburst stunned him long enough for her to continue talking. She took a calming breath and continued. “Shun, do you remember when we were kids and I got sick and was burning up with a fever and endless sneezing?”

He hesitated, his hand over the body of his duel disk, moments from initiating a duel.

“What are you-”

She continued, walking towards him as she spoke. “Do you remember what you called me when you were taking care of me?”

His hand shook as she talked, he knew where she was leading with this, but his ears wouldn’t believe it. It was just impossible.

Ruri stopped in front of him less than an arm’s length away. She place her hand gently on his, pushing it down and away from the duel disk, keeping her rosy eyes trained on his. “You called me Ruri-bird, because-“

“Because when you sneezed it sounded like a bird chirping,” he finished. “No, this-this can’t be possible. I buried you, you can’t be here.” Shun shook his head, tears beginning to sting his eyes. “But no one else knows that story.” Sure there were a few people that knew the nickname, but no one knew the full story behind it, no one but the two of them.

“Please Shun, it is me. I can’t explain how but you have to trust me,” she said, still holding his hand.

“Ruri…” Suddenly he pulled her to his chest, legs shaking and threatening to buckle out from under him as he held her close. One hand was pressed against the back of her head, the other to her back. All of his anger seemed to just slip away in an instant as he held her.

Smiling, Ruri retuned the hug, pressing her face into his chest. “I missed you Shun. I thought you were dead. And I’m not the only one who’s glad to know you’re alive.” Lifting her head she looked over her shoulder, “You can stop hiding Yuto, there’s no point.”

There was a thud from the nearby alleyway, the sound of someone jumping off something and Yuto soon emerged into the road.

“Yuto?” Shun froze, seeing the second ghost from his past standing in front of him.

Yuto smiled softly as he made his way over to them.

“Don’t feel to bad about yelling at him,” said Ruri, noticing the look of guilt on Shun’s face, likely remembering his last encounter with Yuto. “He brought it on himself with how he acted, just revealing himself like that.”

“How?” he croaked, looking between them. “I buried the two of you, you were dead.”

“It’s a long story and not an easy one,” said Yuto.

“And technically, we are dead, but we’re still the ones you remember I promise.” Ruri gave his hand a light squeeze, “And I will explain everything in time.”

“Just don’t go away again, please.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll be around.”

Shun looked at Yuto, his eyes softening. “Yuto, I’m sorry.”

“Ah, Ruri’s right it was my fault. I messed up and I didn’t think. Water under the bridge.”

Shun nodded and unhooked one arm from around Ruri, hooking it around Yuto and pulling him into the hug.

 

Across the city, in the Sakaki household all was quiet. Yuya had finally stopped talking to Yuzu and gone to bed, after much pestering from his mother and a threat to take his duel disk away if he didn’t, who also had turned in for the night. Sora however was not yet asleep, staring up at the ceiling of the guest room he was staying in.

When Yoko had realized Sora didn’t have anywhere to stay she promptly took him in, fed him and offered up the guest room. Of course this had been at the same time that Yuya was in the hospital and the house eerily silent and he suspected that might, possibly, have had something to do with it.

Yuya had taken the discovery of Sora’s living quarters in stride, mostly he just seemed disappointed that he couldn’t escape him and put off teaching him about Pendulum summoning now.

A smile tugged at Sora’s lips as he lay there in the dark of the room. These people were so kind to him, despite knowing absolutely nothing about him.

He rolled onto his side and the smile slipped off his face, they were nice and that was the problem, his past wasn’t, and if it came back, which he was sure it would, they would get tangled up in it. That was the last thing he wanted, these people; the entire dimension really, they didn’t deserve that.

With a grunt he sat up and slid off the bed, making his way over to the corner of the room where his bag lay. Reaching in he pulled out a duel disk, not the one he had been using while at You Show Duel School. This one was shaped like a shield, and the blade that came out like a sword. He held it in his hands, his breath shaking as he looked at it.

He’d had half a mind to chuck it in the bay, or dash it among the rocks and bury it deep in a hole. He wanted to, but he hadn’t. There was a chance someone might find it, and that technology in the wrong hands, he didn’t even want to think about that happening. No, it had to stay with him; letting it out of his sight like that wasn’t a risk he wanted to take.

He quickly stuffed it back into the bag and buried it under everything. There was still that off chance that it might come in handy, who knew when he might need to jump dimensions after all? But it was risky too, while he was pretty sure he’d disabled the tracking system and auto dimensional teleport function, he didn’t want to take any chances. If even one person found out where he was and what he’d done, his life was over. Desertion was, after all, an act of treason. And if what he’d witnessed before leaving was any sign of what might happen to him… Sora shuddered at the thought and shook his head. If loyalty had been rewarded with death, he didn’t want to know what would happen for disloyalty, and how it could possibly be worse.

Satisfied that it was where it belonged, and still off and non operational, he made his way back to bed.

Whatever was being planned, it was going to happen, the question was just when, not if. Sora curled in on himself and pressed his eyes shut, he felt so helpless. He knew something bad was coming but there was nothing at all he could do to stop it. He could tell someone sure, but what would that accomplish aside from making him look crazy? After all, who would believe that he was running from an interdimensional war that had started in another dimension?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I figure, if a slightly furnished warehouse is good enough as a hangout for Sawatari and some pals, then 4-6 Barians (some of which have probably worked with less) could probably manage to furnish it up be livable enough.
> 
> And Crystal Wing, because I headcanon that Yugo's D-Wheel is called Clear Wing. So version 2 is obviously Crystal Wing.


	7. Standard Arc part 6

“The once a year festival for duelists, the Maiami Championship, has begun!”

Nico Smiley’s voice echoed through the arena, sounding out over the roar of the excited crowd, and they only cheered louder as he announced the start of the tournament.

In the stands Yuya and Yuzu fidgeted in anticipation, hand made signs held close as they prepared to cheer on their friends. The fact that they couldn’t take part in it was disappointing to say the least, but there wasn’t much they could do.

“First, let us introduce the host of this wonderful tournament and the biggest sponsor, Akaba Reiji!”

The spotlight and camera landed on a box high up in the stands and focused in on the figure seated inside. He was a spectacled, silver-haired young man and unlike the rest of the stadium which bore expressions of excitement his face was emotionless and neutral, mouth hidden by behind his folded hands.

The chairwoman, Akaba Himika and his mother, was seated to his left. She bore a proud expression, hands folded in her lap. To his right, and almost unnoticed was a smaller figure, a kid, trembling with nervousness and clutching a small teddy.

 

“Now, let the entrance procession, begin!”

Explosions of colour and solid vision creations filled the air, framing the entranceway at the end of the stadium. The doors parted and the first of the participants filed out and onto the field.

“Leading the march is the school that won all levels in last year’s tournament, LDS-Leo Duel School! Once again this prestigious school holds the most entrants in our tournament!”

The group was lead by several students, each carrying a sign proclaiming LDS across the front.

Sawatari hung to the back of the group, far from everyone else. His shoulders were hunched slightly and hands stuffed in his pockets. By all accounts he should have looked happy and excited, but he didn’t, shrinking in on himself and trying not to look at the crowd. It was no surprise why, more than enough jeers and hisses could be heard from the crowd, which only served to make him turn his face away even more.

“Following them, the top of the martial arts based schools, Ryouzanpaku!”

The procession continued on in similar fashion, a school was announced and the participants would file out onto the field, waving and greeting the crowd, who in turn cheered with excitement.

“And now, the talk of the town with their Entertainment Dueling, You Show Duel School!”

Sora’s arms were folded behind his head as he tailed the younger duelists, who waved to the crowd very enthusiastically, grins plastered on their faces.

Yuya hopped to his feet, sign held over his head as he cheered them on. “You can do it guys!”

His cheers were soon joined by those of his mother, Shuzo, and Yuzu.

“Show them what You Show Duel School is made of!”

“Have fun guys!”

 

The remaining schools filed out onto the field, till all schools and participants were accounted for and gathered before the main stage where one of the tournament heads greeted them.

“All of you who have gathered here are the elite, having beaten out many other duelists to be here. We expect you to show us your best dueling while still playing fairly.” The committee head stepped down, allowing Nico Smiley to take the stage again.

“Now then, it is time to move on to the oath of fair play.” He beckoned a duelist onto the stage to say the oath.

The young duelist cleared his throat as he steppe up to the microphone, giving it a light tap with a fingertip.

“We the duelists of Maiami city and beyond, agree to the rules laid out for us, to play a fair and just game. To this we swear on our honour and pride as duelists, to uphold these rules and values.”

As he finished, a cheer raised from the crowd as they applauded him and the other duelists.

As the young duelist took his spot back among the rest, the head began to explain the rules of the competition and how the match ups were to be determined.

 

Yuto, Yugo, Ruri and Rin had slipped out from their base at the docks and into the city for the tournament. There was no way to set up a television in the warehouse, not in time for the tournament, so if they wanted to watch they had to move into the city. Anywhere with a large screen would do, every t.v in the city was trained to the channel it was being aired on.

“Look, even Shun’s in the tournament,” said Ruri excitedly, holding her cloak close as she pointed up at the screen.

Yuto smiled, watching as Shun stood among the gathered duelists on the field as a part of LDS.

He still wasn’t sure how Shun had managed that, he’d never asked how it happened, but Shun had managed. And maybe it was his imagination but Shun seemed, a little more at ease than the last time they’d seen him, and the faintest traces of a smile tugged at his lips. Of course, to anyone who didn’t know Shun as they did this would be near impossible to spot and he would look stoic and grumpy as ever.

“To bad Yuya’s not participating,” said Yugo, folding his arms over his chest. “That Pendulum Summoning he talked about sounded cool, but I guess we’re not seeing it.”

Rin patted his shoulder, “I’m sure he’ll duel you and show it off if you ask. For now, let’s just enjoy what we do have.”

 

Sawatari Shingo looked very, very uncomfortable as he made his way to the field for his first match. The moment his match had been announced a rush of whispers and murmurs rippled through the crowd, and not, he was certain, about anything good.

Even the students of LDS, his own peers, had been giving him cold looks, looks that made him wish he’d had the guts to drop out.

He swallowed the lump in his throat as he came to face his opponent; a tall young man in a white suit, red velvet cape and purple top hat, a duelist from the Abracadabra Academy; a magic based dueling school.

He sized Sawatari up and down. “Not going to try anything funny this time are you?” he asked.

Sawatari flinched, looking down at his disk, he’d barely dueled after the accident with Yuya, he could count on one hand the number of duels he’d had. No one wanted to duel him, the cheater who’d tried to kill his opponent. He clenched his jaw in frustration, why would no one listen to him when he tried to explain?

He tried to block out the voices around him, even though the jeers were few and far between they might as well have been the only sound he could hear.

“Well, are you going to say something?”

In the stands Yuya scowled, Sawatari was oddly quiet and hadn’t said or done much save put his disk on since he’d entered the ring. He could hear the whispers of the people in the seats near them and the looks they were giving him and frankly, he didn't like it.

“Oi, Sawatari!” he yelled, holding onto the railing and leaning uncomfortably far over, to the point that Yuzu had to grab the back of his shirt and hold him back so he didn’t fall.

Sawatari’s head shot up as Yuya’s voice sounded, impossibly loud against the roar of the crowd. He looked towards the stand where he saw Yuya, leaning over the railing and grinning widely.

“You can do it!” he cheered. “You can win this! I’m rooting for you!”

Several heads turned to look at Yuya; it made no sense, why would he cheer on the one who had nearly killed him?

Slowly but surely a grin cracked its way across his face and he shot Yuya a thumbs up before turning back to his opponent.

“I think I will, and I’m going to win this duel fair and square, just you watch.”

 

“Yuya! Stop leaning so far over, you’re going to fall!” groaned Yuzu as she tugged him back. “You can cheer him on but be careful.”

He rubbed the back of his head, “Hah, sorry.”

She sighed, finally letting go of his shit as he sat back down. “Honestly.”

“But look, I got Sawatari to smile at least.” He pointed at him as the pair said the Action Duel chant. “He looked really down before. So let’s both cheer him on.”

“But he’s not even from our school,” said Yuzu.

“Neither is Gongenzaka. Besides, I think he needs someone to cheer him on. And if we cheer him on then maybe others will too.” He smiled, “And then we can cheer on Sora in his duel.”

 

Sawatari smirked, grabbing an action card to dodge the incoming attack. The grin only grew wider when he looked at his hand and the card he’d just drawn.

“Now it’s really time to set the stage,” he grinned, straightening up on the platform he’d landed on. “Using the scale 1 Abyss Actor-Devil Heel and scale 8 Abyss Actor-Funky Comedian I set the Pendulum scale!”

The word PENDULUM flashed across the blade of his duel disk as he set the cards on either end of the blade.

“So now, I can summon monsters with levels of 2 to 7 to my side of the field.”

 

Akaba Reiji, who had been comfortably observing the matches from his seat, sat bolt upright, fingertips pressed together firmly as a frown creased through his neutral expression. That was decidedly NOT the deck he’d asked Sawatari to test out for him. Just what was he up to?

 

Yuya leapt forward in surprise, again, grabbing the railing to steady himself as if leaning closer would somehow get him a better view of what he’d just seen. While he'd known that Sawatari had Pendulum Cards of his own, having seen them, he hadn't known that Sawatari knew how to use them, let alone that he was going to us themm. Yuzu leapt after him, pulling him back again so that he didn’t fall over the edge in his excitement.

 

“Looks like you’ll be getting to see that Pendulum Summoning after all,” said Rin, giving Yugo a light nudge with her elbow. “Just not from Yuya. Wonder why he didn’t tell us other people had Pendulum Summons?”

 

“This, this is incredible!” cried the announcer. “Sawatari Shingo just preformed a Pendulum Summon, something only seen used by You Show Duel School’s Sakaki Yuya until now.”

“You better believe it,” said Sawatari with a grin. “Because I am going to win this!” He raised a hand over his head, “Now with my set Pendulum scale I summon forth the star of my show!”

A halo of light appeared between the two monsters and from it shot forth a red streak of light, descending onto the field.

“Come forth, Abyss Actor-Big Star!” The seven-star monster materialized on the field, giving a sweeping bow the crowd.

“Now, I equip the spell Abyss Costume-Sword of the Valiant to my star, giving him 300 more attack points.”

The monster grabbed the shining gold sword and its attack points jumped from 2500 to 2800.

“Now my star, finish off that monster, an the rest of his life points!” Sawatari pointed towards his opponent’s sole monster for the final attack. With a flourish of its cape and a swing of its sword, Sawatari’s monster leapt into the air before diving towards his opponent.

The other monster disintegrated in a burst of light and the attack continued through, striking the other duelist and reducing his life points down to zero.

 

Yuya cheered, shaking with excitement. “I knew you could do it!” he called. “You better not lose till I get that rematch!”

 

Sawatari’s opponent sighed and shook his head as Sawatari made his way across the field, which returned o normal the moment the duel ended.

“Ah, it seems I may have misjudged you,” you said, extending his hand. “That was a captivating duel.”

“You too.”

Sawatari grinned as he took his hand in response and shook it before they turned to face the cheering crowd. He gave an exaggerated, sweeping bow to them, grinning all the while.

It felt good, that win under his belt, the cheer of the crowd. They were cheering for him. Not hissing or booing, but cheering.

Reaching up he ran a finger over the LDS pin on his collar before removing it and stuffing it away in his pocket. Perhaps once this tournament was over, some changes were in order.

“Well, with that duel wrapped up, we move on to our next match up of the first round, Shiunin Sora from You Show Duel School, against Kurosaki Shun of Leo Duel School.”

* * *

 

_Yuri’s eyes flew open with a start as a howl of pain died in this throat. His body convulsed as he curled in on himself. His entire being felt like it was on fire, and the worst of the pain was concentrated right down the center of his body._

_He clenched his eyes shut, trying to recall the last few memories leading up to the terrible pain._

_Cornered, he’d been cornered by several members of the Obelisk force and held down, forced his knees before them. And orders, they said they had orders to do this, from the professor, then a blinding violet light. He’d seen that light before, but he’d never been on the receiving end of it, until then. Then, then there was something else, a searing, fiery pain that threatened to rip him in two. What on earth could cause such a pain though?_

_Gasping and panting he rolled onto his hands and knees, body trembling as he stared at the rich, red earth under him. Dead, that was what was going on, he had to be dead. He’d never heard of any one being turned back after being transformed into a card, so he had to be dead._

_As he moved a weight shifted on his back and he stumbled, catching himself again before he face planted into the ground. Wings, from the corner of his vision he could just make out a pair of webbed red wings that drooped over him, dragging along the ground._

_He took a few minutes to become accustomed to the strange feeling before trying to stand up, least he fall over._

_Slowly, he pulled himself to his feet, trying to fold up the strange wings so they didn’t throw him off balance. As he brought a hand to his face he felt something strange under his fingers. Carefully, he traced his fingers over his face, tying to map out the shape of whatever was there. Or rather what wasn’t there, his face was entirely smooth, lacking a mouth and nose entirely. How he was breathing (at least he thought he was) and making sound, he wasn’t sure. Just another mystery he supposed  
_

_Once he was balanced he stood up, wings awkwardly folded against his back and looked around, taking in his surroundings for the first time._

_Empty, that was the first word that came to mind when he looked around, empty and silent._

_Maybe he was alone, the only one in that strange world. That might be nice all things considered._

_He began to walk, no destination in mind save for where ever his feet took him._

_How long he walked for Yuri wasn’t sure, he had no way to tell time. While the ‘sun’ in the sky dimmed and brightened in a cycle, he didn’t know if it happened in 24-hour intervals._

_The only sound that reached his ears was the lapping of water on a shoreline and soon he found himself standing at the edge of what looked like a great red sea, and still he hadn’t found another person._

_If this was death then it wasn’t so bad he supposed, as he sat down on a rock, watching the water as it rolled against the shore._

 

“Oi, Yuri.” A hand smacked his shoulder and Yuri raised his head, slipping out of his thoughts and turning his violet-red eyes towards his would-be ‘attacker’, Selena.

“What?”

“Did you feel that?” she asked. She narrowed her green eyes, “I don’t like it, something feels wrong.”

Yuri studied her face for a few moments before nodding, “So, you noticed too? They’re more frequent now and worse than before. And stronger too.”

“What are they?”

“Invaders obviously. They keep trying to break through, and it distorts this place each time.” His brows knit together. “We should keep on guard, just in case.”

“Should we tell Yuto?”

Yuri shook his head, “No, there’s nothing he can do anyways. Let’s just watch for now. We'll inform him if the situation changes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the ball starts rolling and the tournament is underway.
> 
> We'll just pretend that Sawatari got the Abyss Actor cards early. Yeah that's it. >.>


	8. Standard Arc part 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yup, it's this chapter, the Sora-Shun duel. Or the first part of it.  
> The tricky part was turning mocking taunts into playful ones whilst having Sora feign ignorance.
> 
> Also Shun's dialogue is really, silted, because half the time it sounds like he's talking to himself when narrating about the invasion.

Sora paced around the room as he waited, his duel was coming up next and he was both nervous and excited.

The announcer’s voice sounded and he stopped pacing, turning to face the door. Well, time to go out and do his thing.

With a grin on his face he bounded out and onto the field, waving happily to the crowd.

Shun on the other hand, who stood opposite him on the field, was not. His expression hadn’t changed much from the opening ceremony and his arms were folded across his chest.

“Man, you need to lighten up,” said Sora, hands folded behind his head. “It’s just a duel, not the end of the world.”

His slight flinch did not go unnoticed by Sora. Nor did the look on his face as Nico Smiley announced the Action Field they would be playing on.

“Neo Heartland City!”

Shun’s eyes widened momentarily at the mention of his homeland’s name and shock briefly crossed his features. Even Sora was stunned for a few moments. He’d never been to Heartland, but he knew of it, the real question was, how did this dimension know about it.

“Action Field, on!”

The field shimmered as the chosen Action Field took shape around them.

It was a sprawling, beautiful city, decorated in fairy lights and glowing in pastel hues. Roadways sprawled out above and around them and buildings rose into the sky brilliantly. The main attraction was a building with a long, twisting gold spiral around the topmost spire and was adorned with a crystalline, rose coloured heart.

A river separated the pair of duelists, one on each bank.

Sora gaped as he looked around, so this was Heartland looked like was it? It was, beautiful. He looked back to Shun and flinched when he saw the look of pure rage that flashed across his face.

Shun’s gaze darted up to the crowds as if looking for someone and he narrowed his eyes angrily.

“Hey, I’m your opponent for this,” said Sora, waving his hands over his head, hoping to catch his attention. “Come on, we’re supposed to duel. You are going to be able to duel right, because you don’t look to good.”

“Just worry about yourself,” growled Shun, fixing him with a harsh stare. “After all, if you what I think you are, I will crush you, Fusion.”

A chill rolled down Sora’s spine, there was no way this guy knew who or what he was, he couldn’t. He held his smile though; pretending as if he had no idea what Shun was talking about. The last thing he needed was anyone learning the truth about where he’d come from. He’d done well keeping it hidden so far.

“Duelist’s ready?”

Sora grinned, clenching a sucker between his teeth. He was ready all right, ready to get it done and over with now.

 

“ ** _Duelists locked in battle! Kicking the earth and dancing in the air alongside their monsters!_** ”

 

He glanced towards Shun, waiting for him to join in. Shun made no move to, well move, or say anything so Sora continued, albeit feeling a bit awkward to do it on his own. Unable to coax Shun into doing the chant with him, Sora continued on his own, waving to the crowd. “Come on, you say it with me then!”

 

“ ** _They storm through this field! Behold! This is the newest and greatest evolution of Dueling!_**

 ** _ACTION DUEL!_** ”

 

There was a familiar popping sound as the Action Cards were scattered though the field and signaling the start of the duel.

“Since you don’t seem to be doing anything, I’ll just go first,” said Sora, drawing his cards. “And I’ll start by calling out a cute friend of mine, Furnimal Bear!” The fluffy, winged bear toy materialized beside him on the field. “Isn’t he just cute and fluffy?” he asked, patting the bear as the crowd cooed an awed at the sight of the monster. “Well there’s more where he came from! See, when I have a Furnimal monster on the field, I can Special Summon these from my hand.” He held up two cards with a smile, “My cute Furnimal Sheep!”

He set the cards on the blade and two sheep with stylized wings materialized on the field on either side of his bear.

“I’ll set one card and end my turn.” He looked to Shun, who hadn’t moved. “You’re up, so let’s give them a show to enjoy, ok?”

Shun’s expression barely changed as he looked around the arena. “Show? Once dueling was a great show in my homeland too, adults and children alike, everyone enjoyed it. Until the day we were invaded without warning, and my homeland turned into a battlefield.”

“Huh, enemy? Battlefield? What are you talking about?” asked Sora. It was a bluff, he knew exactly what he was talking about and the duel was beginning to feel a lot more worrisome. Sora could put two and two together, his reaction to Heartland, and the mention of the invasion, he was a survivor of the Heartland Invasion. Damn, this was bad it was really bad.

 

Yuzu frowned and turned to Yuya, “Yuya, didn’t Yuto say something about an invasion?” she asked. Ever since the Action Field had been announced, something had been nagging at her. Heartland, she could swear she’d heard that name before. “And Heartland, I’m sure I’ve heard it too.”

Yuya nodded, she was right, Yuto had mentioned an invasion. While he hadn’t given many details, citing it to be to unpleasant to think on, it was the invasion he’d said that had claimed his and Ruri’s lives.

“Heartland, Heartland…” Yuya mused the words over, brows knit together in thought. “Oh, I think, that was where Yuto was from. I heard Ruri say it once when were talking about the Xyz dimension.” He looked back to Shun, “So, does that mean that he’s also from Heartland?”

 

“Aw man, you’re such a buzz kill,” sighed Sora, hands on his hips. “I even summoned my cutest monsters to make things fun too. And now you’re going to ruin it.”

“My turn!” He cut Sora off abruptly, his voice as harsh as his glare. “The invasion was so sudden, we were throw into chaos. It took everything we had to fight back, to defend ourselves. Now, I summon Raid Raptor-Vanishing Lanius from my hand.”

A large, mechanical looking bird materialized above him, flaring its wings with a screech. “Now, attack Furnimal Bear!” With another scream it flew over to the pink bear, talons digging into the plush looking creature and tearing it to shreds.

Sora held his ground as the assault damage washed over him, dropping his life points from 4000 to 3900. “Man, you’re just mean aren’t you?” he asked with a pout. Sora turned to the audience and flashed them a smile. “Don’t worry, my monster won’t be gone long. In fact, here he comes right now! I activate my trap card, Furnimal Crane. I can return my destroyed Furnimal to my hand, and draw a card.” He waved the newly returned Furnimal Bear to show it was back before drawing his card.

“You gotta learn to have fun and smile,” said as he turned back to Shun. “It’ll be no fun if you don’t.”

Shun made no indication he heard Sora as he continued with his turn, his expression never wavering. “Because a Raid Raptor monster attacked this turn I can activate the spell card in my hand, Raid Raptor-Symbol. I choose to add a Raid Raptor-Vanishing Lanius to my hand. And, due to the effect of my summoned Lanius I can special summon one more Vanishing Lanius this turn.” A second copy of Vanishing Lanius appeared on the field beside him, this one glowing blue as it was summoned in defense mode.

“I set one card and end my turn.”

Sora sighed, it was clear that nothing he said was going to change Shun’s attitude so he might as well go along with it. “Fine I’ll bite, if you want a fight I’ll give you one. But I’ll at least make it entertaining. First, I summon my Edge Imp Scissors.” Unlike Sora’s previous two monsters, which were cute and fluffy stuffed animals, this one looked like a collection of scissors with an eerie pair of glowing eyes in the space in the handles.

“And when this monster is normal summoned I can recall one Furnimal from my field, and special summon another from my hand.”

The scissor descended upon one of the sheep, the blades snapping furiously around it as fluff flew through the air. When they moved back the sheep had been replaced with the previously destroyed Furnimal Bear. “And when my sheep returns to my hand, his effect lets me add a specific card to my hand. And that card, is Fusion!” There was no point in hiding that he could Fusion summon, it wasn’t as if the summoning method was unheard of in this dimension and the people he was most worried about knowing, already knew.

Shun blanched violently at the site of the card, instinctively taking a half step back.

 

From his seat in the control room, where he’d been monitoring the last few matches, Akaba Reiji narrowed his eyes. “I found you, duelist of Fusion. Just what is it you want? Why are you here?” he muttered, folding his hands under his chin in thought.

 

The spotlight landed on Sora as he bounded to the top of a set of stairs, arms spread wide over his head. “Ladies and Gentlemen!”

 

Yuya felt his cheeks heat up and he hid his face in his hands as his friends laughed.

“It looks like he really wants to be like you,” laughed Yuzu.

“Yeah, I guess so. I guess now I’ll get to see his monsters since we never finished our duel.”

Yuzu nodded, “They’re certainly something that’s for sure.” While Yuya hadn’t seen Sora’s monsters, Yuzu, who had been learning fusion summoning from Sora, had.

 

“You are about to witness a real, full-fledged, Fusion Summon! I’m going to fuse my Edge Imp Scissors and my Furnimal Bear together to create a new monster.” He jumped back, spreading his arms.

 

_Claws of the demon, and fangs of the beast!_

_Become one and reveal to us your true form!_

_Fusion Summon!_

_Come forth, horrifying beast that shreds all!_

_Death-Toy Scissor Bear!_

The pair of monsters vanished in the spiral of colours and light above him as he said the summoning chant.

The scissors seemed to tear through the pink plush toy and what came out looked less like a cuddly toy and more like something from a horror movie. It was still a pink bear, but a pair of scissors ran through its belly in a horizontal manner, front to back; its mouth was rimmed with pointed teeth and a pair of evil looking eyes stared back from the darkness.

“Time to battle!” he grinned. “Attack his Vanishing Lanius!”

The bear lunged forwards, launched into a fast rotation as it flew towards the bird monster, which disintegrated in a flurry of claw swipes. Shun’s life points dropped by 900, from 4000 to 3100 in a single move.

“And that’s not all,” grinned Sora as the crowd cheered. “Scissor Bear can equip monsters it destroys in battle, and then gains the attack.” The Lanius momentarily materialized in the shape of glowing energy before it was gobbled up by the bear monster, raising its attack points from 2200 to 3500.

“Trap open, Raid Raptor-Return! I can recall one destroyed Raid Raptor monster to my hand.”

The bear opened its mouth and the glowing orb shot out, flying to Shun’s hand as he recalled the card.

Sora sighed but shrugged, “I guess it would be boring if you let me get away with that and didn’t have a plan. I set one card and end my turn.”

“What an exciting duel folks!” cheered Nico Smiley, “These two duelists are so evenly matched, they’re neck and neck, this duel is surely going to be the most exciting one yet.”

“I know you said you wouldn’t show me any mercy, but don’t think that means I’m going to take it easy on you either,” said Sora, twirling around the sucker in his hand. “No mercy either, I’m giving it all I have. But you seem to be holding back a bit. Can’t find it in you to fight?”

Shun spoke again, though it was still hard to tell just who was speaking to, whether it was Sora, himself, the crowd or some combination there of.

“Our foes were so overwhelming, we could hardly protect ourselves. We had no organized resistance to defend with and before long we began to lose comrades one by one. In those hopeless battles we learned something, the only way to survive was to win. Mercy was not a luxury we had.” He glared up at Sora, “Only those will a steeled will, tempered in battle could win and live.”

Sora drew his lips into a firm line; this guy was dead serious about everything, their duel included. He was going to have to wrap it up fast, as much as he wanted to draw it out for the crowd. If he spent any longer around Shun things were going to go south fast, or faster than they already were.

“My turn, I summon Vanishing Lanius from my hand. And because it was summoned its effect lets me summon another Vanishing Lanius from my hand!” One after another, two more Vanishing Lanius monsters appeared on the field.

Sora hissed as he drew in a sharp breath, this was bad. If Shun truly was from the Xyz dimension, then there was no doubt in Sora’s mind what he was planning on doing with three level 4 monsters on the field.

“I overlay the three level 4 Vanishing Lanius!” The three monsters transformed into steams of purple light as they flew into a swirling whirlpool of golden energy upon his command.

 

_Obscured falcon,_

_Raise your claws, sharpened by adversity._

_Spread your wings of rebellion!_

_Xyz Summon!_

_Appear now! Rank 4! Raid Raptor - Rise Falcon!_

That settled it, he was definitely a survivor from the Xyz dimension but, “It’s so weak!” said Sora, taking it the monster’s 100 attack points. “I thought you were going to get serious. How is that going to help?”

“Rise Falcon’s ability lets it attack all special summoned monsters on the field,” explained Shun. “And, by detaching one Overlay unit I can activate it’s other effect, raising its attack by the total of the attack of all special summoned monsters on your side of the field!”

The large bird-like beast screeched and shrieked as it was engulfed in a wreath of flame, and its attack points rose straight up to 2700.

Sora’s eyes widened, that was not good at all, and massive under estimation on his part.

“Now, attack Rise Falcon, rend our enemy to shreds! Ravaging Rebellion!”

With another piercing scream the bird dove upon Sora’s monsters, shredding both in an instant.

The shock wave from the attack flung him backwards and off his stand atop the stairs.

 

“Sora!” Yuya bolted from his seat again and held the railing tightly till his knuckles were almost white. A flicker of panic went through him as he watched his friend go flying backwards, his life points dropping to 3400.

 

Sora groaned as he righted himself, now lying at the bottom of the ruined stairs, the Solid Vision may not have been as solid as the real thing, but damn it had hurt, a lot in fact. And the wind whipped up by the monster, it was just as powerful and realistic.

The falcon returned to normal, it’s attack points dropping back to 100 and the flames vanishing as Shun set two cards and ended his turn.

That settled it for him, no holding back and no more pretending. If Shun wanted to play rough then he’d play rough too.

Wiping a smudge of dirt off his cheek he pulled himself to his feet. “Well, if that’s how it’s going to be then I guess I should go all out against you. And here I just wanted to have fun.”


	9. Standard Arc part 8

As Sora and Shun’s duel raged on, almost literally, Yugo stole a glance over at Yuto and Ruri, who’d been unusually quiet since the beginning of the duel.

When the Action Field had been announced Yuto had tensed up and gone very quiet.

“Heartland, that was our home,” said Ruri quietly when Yugo asked what was wrong. “But how could they know?”

It did seem to be a bit of an uncanny coincidence that they would happen to use that particular Action Field for this particular duel. Or even have that Field to begin with. Did they already know about the other dimensions?

Yuto didn’t speak, focused intently on the duel and switching between watching Shun and watching his opponent, the fusion-using duelist named Sora. Something about Sora seemed to be bugging him, if his furrowed brow was anything to go on.

“Should we be worried about something?” asked Yugo.

Yuto sighed, “I don’t know, it’s that kid. I feel like he knows more than he’s letting on, that he’s hiding something. I want to believe that he’s just a regular fusion user from here but, I’m not sure.” He looked at his duel disk for a moment before he began to tap away on the screen, it was a long shot and he wasn’t even sure it was going to work.

“What are you doing now?” asked Yugo, craning his neck to try and see what Yuto was up to.

“Acting on a hunch. If he is from Fusion then there might be a chance that Yuri or Selena might know him, or know of him,” he explained. “Oi Yuri, can you here me?”

“Hahhh?” Yuri’s face flickered onto the screen of his disk, the Barian looking quite mystified as to why he’d been called. “I wasn’t expecting a call from you. This must be big.”

“Just a question you or Selena might be able to answer. Have either you ever heard of a duelist named Sora Shiunin? Uses a Furnimal and Death-Toy deck, blue hair?”

Yuri tapped his chin thoughtfully, “Sora, Sora…I seem to recall a student from the year before me by that name. I never met him though, but I heard that he was supposed to be good though. Why do you ask?”

Yuto cursed under his breath and turned back to the television, holding up his disk so Yuri could see. “Because I think we found him.”

 

Sora scrambled back to his feet as he tore through the now crumbling and burning Action Field. His taunts had struck a nerve somewhere and Shun had just let loose. Every time he managed to get a monster out Shun’s raptors tore it to shreds, and if it wasn’t a monster it was a spell or trap card that thrashed away at his monsters and his life points and prevented him from doing much of anything.

“ _I need to find away to stop him before he shreds me!_ ” he thought as he scrambled across the ground.

Drawing a card he looked at his hand as his turn came around again. “I activate the Spell card Suture Rebirth! Now I can special summon my Furnimal Sheep from the graveyard! Then I activate my Continuous Spell-Death-Toy Factory. I banish Fusion Conscription from my graveyard in order to fuse together the Furnimal Sheep on my field with the Edge Imp Chain in my hand!” He grabbed the card from his extra deck, slapping it down on the disk blade.

 

_Fusion Summon!_

_Come forth, beast of chains that binds all!_

_Death-Toy Chain Sheep!_

 

A nightmarish looking sheep, bound in chains and gears, appeared on the field before him. “And when this monster attacks, you can’t activate any Spell or Trap cards!” He grinned, now Shun was sealed off from blocking the attack.

“Now Chain Sheep, take out that Rise Falcon of his!” He pointed at the bird monster, which Shun was riding atop, a number of feet in the air. With a mechanical bleating sound the sheep opened its mouth, a red glow forming within, before firing what amounted to a laser aimed towards the bird.

An explosion reverberated through the arena as the attack hit, destroying the bird and sending Shun plummeting to the ground below. Or he would have had there not been a building for him to land on first.

He dusted himself off as he stood up, as if the gigantic fall meant absolutely nothing to him. “With that however you attack is over, which means your monster’s effect has ended as well.”

Sora clenched his jaw, damn, now what was he planning?

“I activate the Instant Magic Rank-Up-Magic Raptor’s Force!”

Sora felt his stomach drop, rank up magic? Oh that sounded bad.

“I can target the fallen Raid Raptor that was destroyed this turn and Rank it up to a Raid Raptor that is one rank higher.”

For a moment the Rise Falcon appeared on the battlefield, then it vanished in a flash of deep purple light, sucked into a whirlpool of dark clouds.

 

_Ferocious falcon,_

_Break through this fierce battle and spread your wings!_

_Destroy our gathering foes!_

_Rank up! Xyz Change!_

_Come Forth Rank 5! Raid Raptor-Blaze Falcon!_

 

The monster appeared in a blaze of fiery red light, spreading its massive, crimson wings. Like the previous Raid Raptors it too looked to be made of metal.

Sora’s eyes widened in fear as he took a step back, this was definitely a bad thing and he was well and truly screwed now. He’d never even heard of Rank Up magic before, let alone face an Xyz monster that had been Ranked Up. This had never been covered in his training at Academia.

“Well, at least the crowd seems to like it,” he said. “Looks like you might be a better entertainer than I am. Kinda had to enjoy myself in this duel though, what with you taking it so seriously.”

“Enjoy?” Shun narrowed his eyes angrily at him. “You won’t be enjoying anything, all you’ll be experiencing is the pain and agony of death.”

Sora flinched and quickly took off running, searching for an Action Card that might be able to help him.

 

“Are we sure this is the same guy?” asked Yugo, head tilted to the side and arms folded over his chest. “I mean, this Sora kid looks like he’s trying to have fun. The way you talk about people from Fusion shouldn’t he be, I dunno, meaner?”

“Unless there’s another Sora running around that uses Fusion monsters,” said Yuri.

After Yuto had contacted him, he decided to go and check it out himself, for curiosities sake more than anything. “And anyways, he could be acting. Haven’t you ever heard of spies or moles, Yuugo?”

The Synchro duelist clenched his teeth, fighting the urge to snap at Yuri. He failed and whirled about on him. “I told you before, it’s Yugo, not Yuugo! Get it right!”

Yuri giggled at the reaction from behind his hand while Rin rolled her eyes, wishing that Yugo would just let it go and ignore him already.

The teasing look quickly vanished and he looked over at Yuto, who still bore a worried and unsettled expression. “But that friend of yours does seem to have him on the ropes. Either that Sora’s not as good as I heard he was, or your friend is more skilled than your typical Xyz duelist.”

 

Sora cursed under his breath as he stumbled across the ground, Shun’s monster hot on his heels. This duel was far from fun anymore, and Sora just wanted out. In a last ditch effort he’d brought out his Death-Toy Chimera, one of his most powerful monsters, and yet it still wasn’t enough. And now Shun was ranking up his Blaze Falcon, again!

 

_Prideful falcon._

_Spread your wings, dyed in the blood of heroes, and charge through the path of revolution!_

_Rank-Up Xyz Evolution! Appear now! Rank 6! Raid Raptor - Revolution Falcon!_

 

The massive falcon screeched as it materialized in the air in a burst of energy, wings flared out.

Sora didn’t even have time to ask how it was going to beat his 2900 attack point Chimera because Shun moved right into his next move, activating the monster’s effect and explaining exactly what he was going to do.

“My Chimera!” He could only watch in horror as the flacon unleashed a torrent of bombs upon his beast and the city around them.

An Action Card, that was his only hope of avoiding the damage from the attack that was going to be dealt to him, half of his monster’s attack points and more than enough to wipe him out.

Panting, he ran through the burning cityscape, heart hammering in his chest as he tried to find another card, there had to be one.

 

Yuya gripped the railing tightly as he watched the duel in silent horror. Dueling was supposed to be fun, but this, it wasn’t fun at all it was a horror show; it was as if Shun was actually tying to kill him.

There was a cracking sound as the building behind Sora began to crack and break, weakened from the explosions.

“Sora!” Yuya screamed, his heart stopping as visions of his own duel came flooding back, the falling buildings, the screaming, the pain.

 

Sora looked up in time to see the building drop like a stone on top of him, a scream dying in his throat as he flung his arms over his head.

 

Yuya bolted from where he stood and tore down to the ground level of the field as the Action Field began to dissolve and it returned to normal, signaling the end of the duel.

Sora, battered and bruised, lay in a heap on the field, arms still covering his head protectively as he shook and trembled.

The field itself had been destroyed, massive gouges and holes blown into it from continuous assault.

Unlike the previous few duels, which ended with applause, a pin could be heard dropping across the field, the audience rendered into a stunned silence.

Brushing a fleck of dust off his jacket, Shun turned to leave, walking across the ruined field.

“Where do you think you’re going?” yelled Yuya as he leapt over the railing and onto the field. “You’re just going to walk away after what you did? You could have killed him!”

Turning, Shun froze for a moment when he saw Yuya but shook it off quickly. “Do you want something?”

“Yuya please, don’t,” groaned Sora, lifting his head painfully. He gasped and recoiled, holding himself in pain.

“Sora!” Looking between Shun and Sora he ran to Sora’s side, still shaking with fear. “You’re hurt.”

“Hah, I could have told you that.” He groaned, wobbling where he knelt before collapsing to the ground in a dead faint.

“You need to get off the field.” Several strong hands grabbed Yuya, pulling him back as he tried to rush to Sora’s aid. The arena security had finally caught up with him and was dragging him off the field.

“But that’s my friend, he’s hurt, he needs help!” he cried, straining against their grip.

“Yuya please,” Yuzu’s voice came from the field side and while she wasn’t being held back as much as he was, there was Security keeping her from climbing the barrier as Yuya had.

“But he needs a doctor.”

“And he’ll get one, but you can’t be on the field right now,” said the security guard as he dragged Yuya from the field by his arm.

By the time Yuya looked back, Shun was gone, having left sometime during the commotion, and Sora was being attended to.

“Please be ok Sora.”

 

“I must say,” said Yuri, leaning an elbow on Yugo shoulder, “That friend of yours Yuto, he is ruthless isn’t he?”

“He isn’t normally like that,” said Yuto with a frown. “That’s not his dueling style.”

“He’d make an excellent soldier.”

Yuto hissed, “That’s not funny Yuri.”

Yuri frowned. “I never said it was, I’m just speaking the truth. With ferocity and ruthlessness like that, coupled with his skills, he’d have risen to the top of Academia’s ranks quickly.”

“Will you stop using me as an arm rest?” sputtered Yugo finally, pushing Yuri’s arm off.

Yuri rolled his eyes, “Since you asked so nicely.”

“Yuri, keep your opinions about Shun to yourself alright?” asked Yuto as he adjusted his cloak. “Especially if we run into him. Now, I’m going to see if I can get some answers. If this Sora kid is from Fusion he might have the answers you didn’t.”

“Doubtful, if the Professor didn’t tell me anything he wouldn’t have told him. But suit yourself I guess.”

 

Sora groaned as he opened his eyes, his body protesting in pain as he tried to move. Perhaps taunting Shun hadn’t been the best move, but at the same time, all he’d wanted to do was get him to duel and try to lighten up. The tournament was supposed to be fun wasn’t it?

His injuries weren’t as severe as they looked; it was more that the shock from the pain of them had knocked him out when he finally took a chance to rest and stop running.

The door to his room creaked open, a thin beam of light spilling in from the hallway before vanishing as it was shut again.

“Yuya?” He attempted to sit up, but doubled over, clutching his side in pain before lying back down.

“Not quite. Now, I have questions for you and you’re going to answer them.”

Sora closed his eyes, “Or what, beat me up some more? I’ve had all I can take for the day.”

“What did Academia want with Heartland?”

Slowly he opened them again, tilting his head to look up at the speaker. He could barely make them out in the dark of the room, but there was definitely someone standing there. “What did you say?”

“You heard me. I saw your duel just now; I know you’re from Fusion. So what does Academia, what does Fusion want with my home dimension?”

Sora scowled, one arm holding his middle. “What makes you think I know anything? And even if I did why would I tell you?”

“So you admit it then, you are Fusion.”

Sora clenched his jaw, damn; he’d just given himself away. “What’s it to you? Are you a friend of that crazy Xyz duelist? Cause I think you two would get along great.”

The intruder growled and suddenly Sora felt their hand grab the collar of his shirt and pull him into a sitting position none too gently.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There was literally no way to describe a sheep firing lasers without it sounding entirely ridiculous.  
> None at all.


	10. Standard Arc part 9

After managing to slip away from their respective parents, Yuya and Yuzu made their way to the ward that Sora was being held in while the doctor’s looked him over. Shuzo and Yoko had both consoled them with the fact that Sora was in good hands, LDS had top-notch doctors, and the Solid Vision had deactivated before any lasting damage could be done.

All the same, Yuya wanted to make sure he was ok, after his own duel going horribly wrong, seeing it happen to someone else, to a friend, it was unsettling.

They were starting down the hall when a door slammed open from somewhere followed by the sound of feet thudding over the floor.

“Yuya!” Sora rounded the corner, one arm hugging his side as he staggered down the hall, now having gotten his second wind.

“Sora what are you-!” Yuya stopped as a second person rounded the corner, “Yuto? What are you doing here?”

Sora looked between them before ducking behind Yuzu, “You mean other than trying to kill me? And what do you mean by ‘Yuto’? Do you know him?”

“Yuya, do you know the company you keep?” asked Yuto, looking from Sora to Yuya. “Remember how I told you about the Xyz dimension, the invasion and Academia?”

He nodded, “Yeah I remember, and I take it that’s what Shun was talking about in his duel earlier?”

Yuto pointed an accusatory finger at Sora, “Academia is from the Fusion dimension, and he’s one of them! Now step aside and let me question him.” He started towards Yuya and Sora, only stopping when Yuzu stepped between them; arms stretched out like a wall. “Yuzu…”

“Let Sora explain first, this, this is all just a misunderstanding. Sora’s our friend; he’d never do what you’re saying he would,” she said.

“But he’s-”

“Fusion? So are Yuri and Selena, and you seem to be ok with them.”

Yuto held his ground a moment, looking between her and Sora, who had moved to using Yuya as a support so as not to fall over. His shoulders relaxed and he sighed, “Fine, but I still want to talk to him.”

“Well not here,” said Sora. “Because I just heard several doors slamming, I think we have company, and not the good kind.”

Yuto and Yuya exchanged a look and nodded, as if sharing a silent thought.

“The docks.”

 

Yuya ended up half carrying Sora, one arm slung over his shoulder, until the blue haired duelist had caught his breath enough to run on his own.

“Why are we going to the docks?” asked Sora, one arm still holding his sides.

“Privacy.” He looked back at Sora for a moment, “Is it true? Are you-are you Fusion? Are you from Academia?”

Sora bit his lip and glanced away, he was caught and there was no backing out now. “Yes. But I’ve never done any of what that Shun guy said. I’ve never even been to Heartland. I’ve, never actually been outside of Fusion till I came here. You do believe me, right Yuya?”

Yuya smiled, though it was somewhat strained with exhaustion, “Of course I do, you’re our friend. But, I don’t think Yuto does.”

Not once since they’d left had Yuto spoken or even looked at them, let alone at Sora. He was just quiet.

“Why are you here?” he asked finally, “Why are you in Standard? Is Academia planning on invading here too?”

“No!” replied Sora quickly. “At least, I don’t think so. No they, they don’t know I’m here. Or at least I never told anyone.”

Yuto hesitated, coming to an abrupt halt. “And you trust what he’s saying to be the truth Yuya?”

“Of course I do, I told you he’s our friend.”

“Alright,” said Yuto with a slight nod, “Then I trust your judgment here.”

Reaching out, Sora tugged on Yuzu’s sleeve when they started walking again. “Hey, I heard you earlier, you said there were other people Fusion here?” he asked.

Yuzu nodded, “They’re not here-here though, but yes, there are others. Although, I can’t understand why Yuto will trust them but not you.”

“We have an, arrangement,” said Yuto, looking back at her from the corner of his eye. “And I’ve had a chance to talk to them. I still have questions for you.”

 

“A warehouse?” Sora looked the building up and down, and then back to Yuya, “You brought me to a warehouse?”

“Let’s just go inside so we can talk,” said Yuto, heading inside ahead of them.

Rin, Ruri and Yugo were already there, having headed back some time ago after Yuto went to find Sora.

Ruri was helping Rin clean up the mess that was the half-built D-Wheel; the only thing they hadn’t managed to figure out was how to configure the D-Wheel to work with the Duel Disk for a riding duel. As a motorcycle however it worked just fine.

Yugo was leaning over the couch, forearms resting on the back, while Yuri, who had not yet returned to the Barian world, was seated on the couch, arms hanging over the back.

The door swung open, Yuto coming in first and followed by Yuzu, Sora and Yuya, in that order.

“You seem to have an extra,” said Yugo, pointing at Sora.

“Only until I get some answers,” replied Yuto. “Yuri and Selena didn’t have any, maybe he might.”

Sora, who had been a bit chatty before, had grown very, very quiet upon stepping inside, his gaze moving about the people in the room before finally settling on Yuri. His breath hitched in his throat and he froze up, Yuya nearly colliding with him when he stopped walking right in front of him.

“Something wrong?”

“You-you,” he pointed a trembling hand in Yuri‘s direction.

Yuri tilted his head as he looked over at Sora, who had gone white as a sheet. “Hmm?”

“You can’t be here, it’s not possible.”

Yuya and Yuzu exchanged confused looks and Yuzu simply shrugged, she had no idea what Sora was going on about.

He shook his head before twisting his fingers though his hair frantically, repeating ‘this isn’t possible’ over and over.

“Sora what’s not possible?” asked Yuzu, trying to calm Sora enough so he could talk. “Why can’t he be here?”

Trembling, Sora looked up at her, green eyes wide and almost panicked. “Because he’s dead!”

Silence reined over the room as all eyes trained on Sora and Yuri, the latter of which was looking at Sora with extreme curiosity.

“Well, now I have to know why you would say that,” said Yuri, standing up from the couch in a surprisingly graceful manner and sauntering over to where Sora was. “I don’t recall ever meeting you before. Shiunin was it?”

Sora stepped back, fear in his eyes like a trapped animal. “I-I, I saw it!” he blurted. “I saw you die.”

Yuri stopped and narrowed his eyes, “Are you sure about that? You look a little short to have been there I think. What did you see?”

Sora bit his tongue, he didn’t want to think about it, let alone talk about what he’d seen.

“Well?”

Sora felt his heart hammering in his chest as he tried to look anywhere but Yuri, who stood only a few feet away and was studying him intently. “Th-the Obelisk Force, I saw you cornered by them behind the school and they, killed you. You’re dead, you can’t be standing right there.”

Yuya could barely process what he was hearing, he knew Yuri had died, they all had that was how they’d ended up in the Barian World, though the manner in which each other had died wasn’t something they knew, but for Sora to know was, not what he’d expected. They’d all been very closed about how it had happened, Yuri especially.

“Tell me,” said Yuri after a moment of tense silence. “Sate my curiosity if you will, what did they do to me? My memories are, a bit hazy.”

Sora opened his mouth to speak, fishing for words as his tongue turned to lead in his mouth. “Card,” he squeaked. “They turned you into a card, and then they destroyed it.”

Yuri’s features softened ever so slightly and he nodded, “Thank you.” Without another word he walked past them and out the door, leaving a stunned Sora without any answers and shaking like a leaf.

 

Yuri wasn’t sure where he was going as he walked along the dock, just for a walk to clear his head.

A torn card, that explained he pain he’d felt when he’d woken up in the Barian World and the jagged red mark that split his form in half.

He stopped at the end of the pier, looking out over the ocean and the darkened sky above. He grimaced slightly, it was much like back home and the docks at night, except there was much more freedom here for him.

There was still one thing that bugged him, the leader had said that he’d abandoned his post and hadn’t been guarding someone that he was supposed to. But that made no sense, he’d never been told to guard anyone, how could he abandon a post he never knew he was supposed to be at?

Something rumbled lowly behind him before puttering to a stop.

“What do you want Yugo?”

“How’d you know it was me?” he asked, making his way towards Yuri.

“You’re the only one that rides that noisy beast, and I doubt Rin would be out here to see me.”

“Hey, Crystal Wing is not a noisy beast, she’s a thing of beauty.”

Yuri rolled his eyes, “If you say so. What do you want?”

“Yuto sent me.”

“Of course he did.”

“Someone has to make sure you don’t get into trouble.”

Yuri snorted, a smirk tugging at his lips, “Oh, and you can manage that, Yuugo?”

Yugo weighed his options, on one hand he could push Yuri into the bay right then and there, it wouldn’t be hard seeing how he was barely a foot from the edge. On the other hand that would mean he’d have to fish him out, in the dark, and he really didn’t want that hassle. And attempting to hit him would likely result in him going into the bay instead, which he also did not want.

“You’re an ass,” he said with a sigh. He looked at his ride, then back to Yuri as he thought for a moment. “I was going to take baby out for a spin, make sure everything’s working properly, care to join me?”

Now Yuri looked at him, shooting him a ‘why on earth’ type of look. “Why would I want to ride that?”

Yugo shrugged as he put his helmet on, “I dunno, I always found a good ride helped me clear my head, and you kinda look like you have a lot on your mind.”

Yuri looked from Yugo, then to the D-Wheel as he pondered the idea. Yugo was right; he did have stuff on his mind, that was why he’d gone for a walk in the first place, to clear his thoughts.

“Fine, but don’t drop me. I’d rather not find out if it’s possible for us to die a second time.”

Yugo laughed, “Don’t worry, Rin and I used to go riding together all the time, I know what I’m doing. Just make sure to hold on and you’ll be fine.”

Yuri had never ridden a D-Wheel before, or any kind of motorcycle, so it took him a little bit to get used to the sensation as he took a seat behind Yugo. He certainly hoped it was as safe as the Synchro duelist said it was because being thrown was not ideal.

“So, where we going?” asked Yuri as he placed his hands on Yugo’s shoulders when the D-Wheel rumbled to life.

“Around I guess, Yuto goes out all the time, so I figure it’s my time to explore this dimension.”

 

Yuri was a surprisingly quiet passenger and if it hadn’t been for the fact that his hands were holding Yugo’s shoulders, his grip occasionally tightening when Yugo upped the speed, Yugo would have forgotten he was there. It wasn’t a bad thing though; it meant he didn’t have to put up with any ‘Yuugo’ jokes while they were out. He might just abandon him on the side of the road if he started that up again.

“I have to ask,” said Yugo, finally breaking the silence, “When that Sora kid said you were turned into a card, he’d didn’t mean like a card-card did he? I mean that doesn’t even make sense.”

Yuri sighed, “No, he meant a card, a Duel Monsters sized card. I’m sure Yuto told you about the invasion of the Xyz dimension right?”

“He said something about Academia and Fusion yeah. But, cards? Is that what they did to everyone? How would that even work?”

Yuri shrugged, “I don’t know how it works, but it’s something The Professor created, a way to seal the enemy away. I don’t even know if it’s reversible or not.”

Yugo grimaced, “That sounds horrible, and I was worked to death.”

“What?” Yuri blinked in surprise as he stared as he back of Yugo’s head. That was, not what he’d been expecting to hear.

“The underground garbage facility, I was sent to work there after I lost in the tournament. I guess I’m a lousy duelist and a lousy worker,” he said with a hoarse laugh. “Couldn’t win the tournament, couldn’t win my freedom and died alone in garbage.”

His voice was strained and bitter and Yuri wasn’t quite sure what to say. Comforting people wasn’t his strong suit, that was Yuya and Yuto’s department, not his. He was best at bothering people and getting under their skin, but comforting them? Not likely, he didn’t do _feelings_ and things like that.

“Perhaps we should drop the subject,” he suggested. “You sound agitated and that can’t do your driving any favours.” Yuri glanced around before nudging Yugo’s shoulder, “Where are we anyways?”

Crystal Wing rolled to a stop in the middle of the road as Yugo took a moment to look around the streets. He hadn’t even been paying attention to where he was going, he was just driving.

The houses around them had grown significantly large and fancier, with sprawling, manicured lawns and fancy looking fences all around. Everything was immaculate and well kept.

Yuri gave a low whistle as he looked around, “Nice place.”

Yugo tightened his grip on the handles of his D-Wheel as a flicker of panic ran through him. Nice houses, all high end and expensive? He’d driven right into the Tops section of the city, and every Common knew that was a fast way to get arrested. He looked around nervously as his pulse quickened; he had to get them out of there before he found himself with Security on his tail.

“Oi, Yuugo, earth to Yuugo.” Yuri snapped his fingers beside Yugo’s head when it became apparent that Yugo wasn’t all there.

“Hmm?”

“You’re spacing out, and we’re in the middle of the road. And I think people are staring.” He pointed to the front porch of one of the houses where an elderly couple was sitting out, enjoying the evening air and giving them peculiar looks.

“Are you lost?” asked one of them.

Yugo shook his head dumbly, it was strange, why weren’t they yelling at him, chasing him off, threatening to call Security?

There was are sounding smack as Yuri finally gave up trying to talk to him and resorted to just hitting the back of his head.

“Ahh, what was that for?”

“You’re making a fool of yourself Yuugo, now let’s keep moving.”

Yugo grumbled at the purposeful mispronunciation of his name before nudging his D-Wheel into gear.

“Enjoy the night boys!”

“What was that about?” asked Yuri when they started moving again.

“I thought I was back home for a moment,” he said. “Back home, the rich weren’t this nice to, people like me.” He rubbed the back of his neck, “I guess I panicked when I saw where I was. Stupid huh?”

“Hmmm.”

The ride back was fairly quiet and uneventful, Yugo still mulling over what had occurred and Yuri just enjoying the silence for once.

 

Sora dropped onto the couch with a heavy sigh, hands gripping his knees. He was no longer as pale as a sheet or on the verge of hyperventilating, but he was still noticeably freaked out “Yuya, what is going on?” he asked, looking up at the aforementioned teen. "And why do they look like you?"

Yuya ran a hand though his two toned hair, “I don’t know how to explain it, I’m not sure you’ll believe me.”

“I came from another dimension, try me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Behind the scenes fact:  
> Sora was originally intended to faint upon seeing Yuri(which would be followed up with a quip from Yugo along the lines of 'I didn't think you were that horrifying to look at') but alas, when I finally got to the scene it didn't end up playing out that way.


	11. Standard Arc part 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eh, it's a bit of a short chapter (sorry).

Dead, all of them; they all had, in one-way or another, died at some point, it wasn’t just Yuri. He’d heard that Yuya and Yuzu had died and come back, but he hadn’t realized they had been serious; they had in fact actually died-died, long enough for the doctors to be unable to revive them and pronounce them as such.

And apparently, in the short time that they were dead their souls had ended up in another world. Not a world like Standard or Fusion, but something else entirely, one that connected all four of them.

“And it’s called the, Barian world?” he asked, twisting a sucker around in his fingers.

Yuya nodded, taking a seat in the corner of the couch. “Yeah, crazy sounding isn’t it? I probably wouldn’t believe it if I hadn’t been there myself.” He yawned behind his hand; it felt like he’d been fighting sleep all day.

Yuto regarded Sora quietly; the Fusion duelist didn’t seem to mean any harm and had been, surprisingly civil the entire time he was there, though he hadn’t said much or even bothered to acknowledge that Yuto was there.

“You still haven’t told me why you’re here, in this dimension,” said Yuto, arms folded over his chest.

“Running,” muttered Sora. “After I saw, that, I got scared. If they reward loyalty with that then…” he trailed off and shuddered. “And I don’t think I was supposed to see that either. So I ran.”

“Wait, how did you get here?” asked Yuya.

He held up his left arm, “There’s a feature in our duel disks that allow us to hop dimensions. I used that and came here. It seemed like a good idea at the time honestly. No one could find me here, and if I used a duel disk from this dimension they couldn’t drag me back,” he explained.

“So that’s how they got into Heartland,” muttered Yuto.

“Probably. But like I said, I wasn’t part of that. So please don’t kill me, I got enough of that earlier from your friend. He almost dropped a building on me, a building!”

“Why didn’t you tell us where you were from?” asked Yuzu.

He looked up at her, “Would you have believed me? If you hadn’t leaned about the other dimensions before meeting me, would you have believed me?”

“Probably not,” said Yuzu. “I mean, it does sound a bit far fetched huh?” It was her turn to yawn, trying to hide it behind her hand as well.

“We should be getting back though,” said Yuya. “Remember the last time, our parents were worried nuts about us.”

 

By the time Yuri and Yugo returned, Yuya, Yuzu and Sora had already left.

“I call the couch,” said Yuri, tossing his jacket over the back and dropping down on it before anyone could say anything.

“Have a nice ride?” asked Rin.

Yugo grinned, grabbing her hands excitedly, “Rin! You’ll never guess what I did!”

“Aside from taking Crystal Wing out for a spin? I take it everything worked fine since you and the bike are in one piece.”

He nodded, “Oh yeah, she handles great, I just wish I could duel on her. But no, it’s even more exciting! I drove through the high end of town, and didn’t get in trouble. You don’t get in trouble here; they don’t have ‘Tops’ or Security or anything like that here. And the people were nice, they even said hi to us, right Yuri?”

“Do you ever stop talking?” he asked, lifting his head. “I’m tired I want to sleep.”

Yugo pulled a face, wrinkling his nose. “Fine, but it happened. Next time I’m taking you so I can show you, it was so amazing!”

Yuri groaned, pressing his face into a pillow and hoping to block out Yugo’s incessant babble. It was just a ride, how could it possibly be that exciting?

 

* * *

 

 

Akaba Reiji narrowed his eyes as he pressed his fingertips together. “What do you mean he’s gone?” he asked.

The security guard fidgeted nervously on the spot, “J-just that Reiji sir. The fusion duelist known as Sora Shiunin is missing. We went to move him like you requested but when we arrived he was gone.”

The silvery haired youth scowled as he bowed his head, he’d finally had a pawn of his father’s right in his grasp, the duelist responsible for the massive amounts of Fusion Summoning energy they’d been picking up, and now he was gone.

“I see, thank you for informing me, you may leave.”

As the man left he turned his attention back to the screens around him. Why was Fusion here already? Was this one just an advanced scout? It seemed likely, and he wanted to keep an eye on him, make sure he didn’t do anything. Standard was his dimension and he would be damned if he was going to let his father have his way with it.

On top of that he still had to plan out the semi finals for the Miami Championship. He needed to find the strongest duelists and fast, especially if Fusion was already here.

He needed something to mix it up, something that the audience would find exciting. Tag duels were always interesting, but that would still require pairing them up and it might take to long.

He linked his fingers together as he rested his chin on his hands, he needed something to prepare them for what they would face when they went up against his father and his armies. Something like a battle royale.

Reiji smiled to himself, yes, that would be perfect. Tomorrow all of Maiami city would become a battlefield for the remainder of the tournament.

 

* * *

 

 

“Wow, you look like crap.” The comment was blunt and aimed at Yuya, who was nearly falling asleep at the table at breakfast.

His foot swung out, narrowly missing Sora’s leg under the table. “I didn't sleep as well as I thought I did, ok? I’m just a bit tired, I’ll be fine.”

“Now, now boys, play nice,” chided Yoko as she set plates down on the table, each containing several pancakes, topped with butter and syrup. “Eat up, you may not be dueling today but you still have a big day ahead.”

“Let’s just hope Yuya can stay awake through it all,” grinned Sora before digging into his pancakes.

“Hey, I’m not that tired,” he shot back, pointing at Sora with his fork. “Besides, who could fall asleep through a duel? Now stop teasing me and eat, we still have to pick up Yuzu.”

Yuzu seemed a bit less worn out than Yuya, but nonetheless looked tired when they went to get her.

“You guys that excited that you couldn’t sleep?” asked Sora, hands folded behind his head.

“I don’t know,” said Yuzu. “I fell asleep pretty fast, but I still feel like I haven’t slept enough.”

Yuya nodded in agreement, even though he’d fallen asleep fairly quickly and easily and, as far as he could remember slept though the night, he felt as if he hadn’t slept a wink.

“You sure you’ll be able to stay awake for the tournament?” asked Sora with a frown. “Because it looks like you’re about to fall asleep right now.”

Yuya wobbled as his vision blurred and shifted and he made a grab for the closest thing, which turned out to be Yuzu’s arm.

“Can I sit a moment?” he asked, pressing one hand to his forehead as he steadied himself against Yuzu. “I think I’ll be fine if I sit down a moment, then we can go get Yuto and the others.”

The plan had been to pick up Yuzu, and then go pick up Yuto and the others and get them to the arena so they could watch the remainder of the tournament.

Yuya didn’t sit down so much as he dropped down, almost collapsing and leaning on Yuzu in the process.

Yuzu looked at Yuya worriedly, he shouldn’t have been that exhausted, neither of them should have, and it worried her. “Sora, do you think you could run ahead and tell them we might be a bit late?” she asked. “I don’t want to push Yuya if he’s like this.”

Sora sputtered in disbelief at what he was hearing. Yuzu wanted him to go talk to that Xyz scum, alone? He looked for Yuzu, then to Yuya, who looked less tired and more on the verge of passing right out.

“Fine,” he said, shoulders slumping as he relented. “I just hope he doesn’t bite my head off.”

 

“When was the last time you two were in the Barian world?” asked Yuto, looking between a collapsed Yuya and an exhausted Yuzu, who was only just barely holding him up.

Sora had arrived alone, and while a bit unusual Yuto didn’t think too much of it till he bean to speak and mentioned what had happened to Yuya. As soon as he heard that Yuya had just about collapsed he was out in a flash, leaving Sora standing in the doorway and the rest of his friends behind. By the time they got back things were worse, Yuzu had taken a seat on the ground and held Yuya in her arms, whom she said had dropped like a stone only a few minutes after Sora left and was unresponsive.

“Not since we first went there, why?”

“Then we need to get you two there now.” He turned to Sora and nodded, “Thank you, I will look after them from here on out.”

“I’m coming too!”

“No!” snapped Yuto. “No, I don’t know what the Barian world will do to a living person. Besides, someone needs to run interference with their family, I don’t know how long they’ll be gone.”

Yuzu stumbled as she tried to stand and Yuto leapt to catch her and keep her and Yuya from falling and getting hurt.

“I’m sorry, but we have to leave now.”

A portal opened up before Sora’s eyes and in the blink of an eye both it and the duelists in front of it were gone, leaving him alone in the street.

For a moment he stood in silence, staring at the empty space, before throwing his arms up in frustration and resignation.

“What on earth do you want me to tell them?”


	12. Standard Arc part 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You may recognize a part here from a snippet I shared on tumblr. This is where it came from.

Yuya groaned as he opened his eyes, his head was pounding and his whole body felt heavy.

“I see you’re awake,” came Yuto’s voice and Yuya felt a hand on the back of his head as someone propped him up slightly.

“Yuto? What happened? We were coming to get you guys and, everything’s sort of a blur.” He raised a hand to his head as he tried to sit up, only feel the familiar shape of his pendulum brush under his fingers. His half lidded eyes flew open and he looked around. “W-why are we back here?” he asked as his vision was greeted with the familiar red hues of the Barian World.

“I had no choice,” said Yuto as he helped Yuya into a sitting position. “You and Yuzu both, you were so drained of energy.”

“Drained?”

Yuto nodded, “Yes, you’re a Barian now, so your energy is drawn from and tied to this place. From what I heard from Yuzu, you two have not been here since your first visit.”

Yuya nodded, “Is that bad?”

“You collapsed, so I would say yes. You just ended up proving what we were worried about, that spending a prolonged period of time outside of the Barian world is bad for us. I suspected it was the case, but the rest of us have been back and forth frequently.”

Yuya stared at him for a moment, trying to decide if he should slap Yuto up the back of his head or not. “Why didn’t you tell us this when we were around a few days ago?” he finally blurted. “Or yesterday?”

Yuto sighed and looked away, “I’m sorry. I didn’t think. You two didn’t seem to be suffering from any adverse effects so I thought perhaps I was wrong.” He bowed his head, one arm resting on a knee, “I’m sorry. It shouldn’t have gotten this far.”

“Is Yuzu ok?”

Yuto nodded and gestured over his shoulder to where Yuzu was, sitting a few feet away and being aided by Selena. “She wasn’t nearly as drained as you were. But, you’re both going to have to stay here until you’re recovered I’m afraid.”

“We’re going to miss the rest of the tournament aren’t we?” asked Yuya.

“I’m afraid so.”

“But my mom, Yuzu’s dad, our friends, what are they going to think if we don’t show up where we said we’d meet everyone?” he asked.

“I told your Fusion friend to take care of that,” said Yuto, waving away his worry.

 

Sora may have been a convincing liar and good at spinning stories, but he usually had time enough to prepare. Less than five minutes before meeting with the rest of their friends was not enough time.

“So that’s how it is,” he said with a strained smile, watching their expressions as he spoke, hoping his story was being bought. “They went on ahead to find some seats together and didn’t tell me where.”

Shuzo nodded as he listened to Sora speak, “I see. Don’t worry, I understand completely.”

“You do?” Wait, he was buying it, it had actually worked? A wave of relief washed over him and he felt his shoulders slump.

“Of course, they just wanted to make it a date and you’re covering for them.”

Wait, what? Sora’s jaws clamped down on the lollypop in his mouth, snapping the tip clean off as he looked up at Shuzo. That was not the response he’d hoped for or expected.

Shuzo waved him off, “Don’t worry, I promise the secret’s safe with us.” He looked at Yoko who nodded in agreement. “I know what it’s like at that age.”

“What?” the corner of his eye twitched as he forced a smile.

Shuzo turned to the kids, “Come on then, let’s all get seats together and enjoy the rest of this tournament.”

Sora grimaced as he watched them start walking towards the arena; if Yuya and Yuzu ever learned about this he was a dead man.

 

“I’m sure he can handle it, there’s nothing to worry about,” said Yuto.

“I hope so, I don’t want to worry anyone anymore,” said Yuya. “How long will we have to stay here?”

Yuto rubbed the back of his head, “Honestly, I don’t really know. I suppose until you’re feeling better. We haven’t had this happen before.”

“I guess you know now huh?” laughed Yuya. With a sigh he fell back, staring up at the sky, much to the surprise of Yuto who momentarily flailed in an attempt to grab him.

“Yuya!” he sputtered.

Yuya laughed again, “It’s peaceful here isn’t it?”

Yuto sighed, feeling a wave of relief wash over him at the fact that Yuya was just relaxing and not about to pass out again. “Yes it is,” he agreed, looking up at the sky.

 

“So he’s staying huh?” asked Ruri, leaning against the wall.

Selena nodded, “Yes, he says he hopes it won’t be to much of a problem for you.”

“Us? What about you?”

“I don’t mind the company. And it’s a change of pace from my usual company. A nice change.”

“You know I can hear you right?” asked Yuri, who was attempting to use Yugo as an armrest, and failing. “I’m dead, not deaf.”

“And you’ll be dead twice over if you don’t knock this off!” growled Yugo, holding Yuri’s arm as he pulled him off his shoulder. “I am not your furniture.”

“You’re right,” said Yuri, patting Yugo on the head. “You’re much too noisy.”

Rin rolled her eyes and exchanged a silent glance with Ruri who shrugged.

“I think we can manage, we’ll just leave these two behind if they don’t start playing nice.” She aimed a pointed stare in the boy’s direction. Yuri gave a resigned sigh and Yugo quickly dropped his hands to his sides. “Just make sure to keep us updated if anything changes on your end and we’ll do the same.”

Selena nodded once before her image vanished from the screen on the duel disk.

“Are you two going to stop fighting, or are we leaving you here to work it out on your own?” asked Ruri, turning to look at Yuri and Yugo.

“Ahh, we weren’t fighting. Yuugo just can’t take a joke,” he said, patting his shoulder with a grin.

Yugo flinched and made a grab for him, “I told you not to call me that!”

Rin groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose. This was going to be a long day.

 

Selena turned back to Yuzu as Ruri’s face vanished from the screen on her duel disk. “Now, are you all set? The card is in you extra deck?”

Yuzu nodded, “I’m ready.”

“Good, then let’s duel. I want to see you Fusion summon.”

 

“Yuto, can I ask you a question?” Yuya leaned his forearms on a rock, gazing up at the sky and the ‘sun’ in it.

“Of course Yuya, what is it?”

He gestured to the white light, “Is that, alive?”

“Alive?”

Yuya nodded, “The energy that I feel from it, it feels, like it’s alive. It pulses like a heart beat except…” His brows creased worriedly, “Except it feels like its in pain.”

Yuto’s face creased and he gave Yuya a slightly unsure look. “In pain?”

Yuya gave another nod, “Every time the energy in this world ripples with those, distortions, the energy from the ‘sun’ feels different. Like it’s in pain, and it leaves this ache inside me.” He gripped his chest, “I’m worried about what it means Yuto. You said the distortions are invaders trying to get in. If they hurt this place, what will become of us?”

“I don’t know Yuya.” Yuto was silent for a moment before straightening up from the rock he was leaning on. “Yuya, there’s something I want to show you, something you need to see.”

 

Sora winced as someone brushed past him, the light touch aggravating the myriad of bruises that adorned his sides. He should have been sitting in his seat with the others to watch the tournament, he wasn’t. He’d slipped away during the explanation of how the final round would go, after they’d shown the remaining participants.

‘ _And here I thought I could relax today,_ ’ he thought, slipping down an empty hallway unnoticed. He had to find Yuri, on the off chance the fusion duelist hadn’t been watching the opening to see who was participating, and warn him.

The only problem was that he had no idea where Yuri or any of the others were. After Yuto had taken off with Yuya and Yuzu, Sora hadn’t stuck around to deal with the others, having to make up an excuse for Yuya and Yuzu’s whereabouts. Presumably they would be watching the tournament, he just had no idea where.

He hissed in pain as he slid along a wall, pressed close to keep to the shadows and out of sight, the arena security seemed very keen on making sure no one left the building so if he wanted a chance at finding them he couldn’t be seen.

It was supposed to have been a nice, normal day, he’d hoped it would stay that way, and then he saw who was left participating and felt his blood run cold.

Academia was already there.

 

“Think of it this way,” said Yugo, “Front row seats.”

Sneaking into the arena turned out not to be an option, so the small group ended up on a rooftop to watch the tournament.

“Or we’ll end up part of it,” said Yuri, watching as the heart of city became divided into various different fields, including the area they were in. “Which could be a problem if we’re supposed to keep a low profile.”

“Well…”

“No Yugo, don’t even think about it.”

“You don’t even know what I was going to say.”

Yuri narrowed his eyes, “Yes I do. We’re not getting involved, this isn’t our tournament, this isn’t even our dimension, we’re just spectators.”

 

Sora skidded to a halt as the area around him transformed from city to a dense jungle, vines twisting around every possible surface and trees where buildings had been only moments before.

“Are you serious?” He flung his arms in the air in frustration, how was he supposed to find anyone in this dense mess?

He looked around, he was going to need some height to see anything if he even hoped to figure out where Yuri was. Sora clicked his tongue in annoyance as he continued on, things had gotten a lot harder now and if he wasn’t careful he’d get caught in a duel, which was the last thing he needed. First he needed to get through the thick jungle.

“Edge Imp Scissors!” A pair of demonic looking scissors materialized in the Solid Vision as Sora set the card. “Time to prune this forest.”

 

The jungle soon gave way to another area, this one designed to look like ruins.

With a sigh he sat down on a chunk of rock, his sides ached and throbbed, having been bumped and rubbed by just about every vine and tree he came across, even with the aid of his monster cutting away at everything in its path.

He was about to stand up to continue his search when a voice sounded from behind him.

“What the hell are you doing out here?”


	13. Standard Arc part 12

“What do you think you’re doing here?”

Sora sighed, hanging his head, of course that would be the way his luck went, of course it would.

“What does it matter to you, Kurosaki?” he asked, lifting his head to look over at the Xyz duelist.

“I thought I was done with you Fusion bastards.”

Sora shrugged, “Well if it really matters, I don’t have any business with you right now. So if you’ll excuse me,” he hopped off the rock, biting back a wince of pain. “I’ll be off now.”

“You’re not going anywhere,” growled Shun, moving to intercept Sora.

Sora scowled, “Come on, really? I don’t have time for this. I thought you’d want me out of your hair.”

“I couldn’t finish you off before, but there’s no one around to stop me now,” said Shun, hand moving over his duel disk. “You and yours will pay for what you did to my people, my home.”

Sora’s eyes widened, “And I’m out of here!” He leapt to the side just in time to avoid being hit by a violet beam.

“Don’t you dare run you coward,” snarled Shun. “Face your death like a soldier.”

“I don’t know about you but I don’t plan on dying yet,” yelped Sora. “Besides, there’s someone I need to find.”

“More Fusion?”

“Yes but–“

“Then die!”

Sora cursed, diving out of the way another flash ripped past him. He clenched his teeth in pain as he hit the hard stone ground. “I’m not the Fusion you should be worrying about,” he gasped, arms wrapped around his middle. He had to get up and run, but moving hurt, every movement irritated his bruises and made him hurt even more. He looked up to see Shun advancing towards, murder in his eyes and duel disk raised. He had one last play, a desperate ploy that might save his hide. “You should be worrying about the Fusion that’s already here inside Standard’s ranks, in this tournament!”

Shun hesitated, “What are you talking about?”

Sora clenched his jaw as he sat up, using one hand to brush dust off himself. “There’s someone in this tournament that lying about who they are,” he said. “And I’m willing to bet they’ve been here longer than I have.”

“Who?”

“You think I’m going to tell you? You’ll just card me when you get what you want. No way, I have to warn someone first.”

“A friend?”

“Not really, but he’s a friend of Yuya’s, and I don’t think he’d be to happy if anything happened to him.” Sora paused a moment before smirking, “I don’t think Yuto would be to happy about that either.”

The next thing Sora knew he was being lifted off the ground by his collar by a very furious looking Shun. “How do you know Yuto?”

“I see you’re as charming as he is too,” he grunted, trying to wiggle free. “And he came to threaten me last night, seemed to think I knew what Academia wanted in Heartland. Now put me down.”

“You’re lying, Yuto would never befriend anyone from Fusion.”

Sora shrugged, “I just know what I saw, you’ll have to ask him yourself.”

There was a thump as Shun unceremoniously dropped Sora to the ground, Sora yelping in pain as he hit the stones.

“Geeze, no need to be so rough.”

 

Yuri tucked his hands in his pockets as he walked, ducking under vines and hopping over tree roots. Yugo had taken off the moment their backs were turned, presumably to cause trouble somewhere, so the three of them had split up to go find him before he could get into trouble.

‘ _What a hassle_ ,’ he thought. Why couldn’t Yugo just stay put?

He inspected the damage around him, he couldn’t tell if it was from Yugo or not, but something, or someone had definitely made short work of the undergrowth.

As he neared the edge of the forest area voices reached his ears, neither of which were Yugo’s. He lingered for a moment and listened, the seemed to be arguing about something and they sounded vaguely familiar.

Curiosity won out over the desire to find Yugo and he followed the voices though the ruins.

It was the boy from the day before, Sora, and the Xyz duelist that had handed him defeat rather painfully, Yuto’s friend.

‘ _Well this is an interesting development,_ ’ Yuri mused silently as he watched them fight, taking a seat on a rock and wondering how long till they noticed he was there.

After about 5 minutes he got bored of listening to them quarrel and finally spoke up.

“If it’s such a problem why don’t you both go?”

That silenced them and they both turned to look at him and it was Sora that spoke up first.

“You!”

Yuri grinned mischievously, chin resting on his hand. “Took you long enough to notice.”

While Sora looked somewhere between relieved and frustrated, Shun looked positively stunned, a look which didn’t escape Yuri’s notice.

“Oh just come out and say it,” he said as he stood up, “I look like Yuto right?”

“So he wasn’t lying, you do know him,” said Shun bitterly.

“We are acquainted yes,” said Yuri with a nod. “I think you also know Ruri too.”

That got a reaction from him and he moved past Sora with frightening speed and grabbed him by the collar.

“How do you know my sister?”

Yuri just smirked, barely fazed at being grabbed in such a way. “As I said, we are acquainted. Allies I suppose you could say.”

“Hey I need to talk to him!” sputtered Sora, trying to pry them apart.

Yuri cast him a curious look, “You need to talk to me?” He reached up and gave Shun’s hands a flick, causing him to release his collar. “About?”

“Macfield.”

The cockiness in his stance and the smirk on Yuri’s face vanished almost in an instant. “What?”

“Dennis Macfield. He’s here, in Standard, in this tournament.”

 

Yugo stumbled and flailed about, trying to keep his footing on the icy terrain. Perhaps heading into the tundra zone on his own hadn’t been a good idea. But it wasn’t like the others were going to let him go, all that talk about not interfering. What a bunch of killjoys.

He gave another yelp and made a grab for a chunk of ice as he lost his footing yet again and slid down a hill of snow and ice.

He huffed as he landed at the bottom of the hill, sprawled out on his stomach.

“Maybe this was a bad idea,” he grumbled. He wasn’t about to go back though, that would be admitting defeat and if he did then he would never hear the end of it, especially from Yuri.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is going to be a bit of a lengthy author's note this time, so bare with me.
> 
> Depending on how busy I am next weekend, this will probably be the last chapter until the beginning of August. See, next weekend, I leave for two weeks vacation. And I will be without internet, thus have no way of updating the fic(though I'll be able to get in a lot of writing for sure).  
> So, this fic will be on mini hiatus, either starting this week or next. I will try to make up for it though when I get back.
> 
>  
> 
> On a story related note, would you believe I almost forgot about Dennis? Yeah, I totally forgot he and Yuri knew one another.


	14. Standard Arc part 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I leave for two week on Monday, so this will be going hiatus until I get back(I will try to get an update or two out on July 7th, but there's no guarantee).
> 
> See you when I get back.

Yuri couldn’t believe his ears; Dennis was there, in Standard.

“Are you sure?” he asked.

Sora nodded, “I saw him when they showed the participants for this round. He’s here.”

Yuri set his jaw firmly; this was bad, running into Dennis was especially risky for him.

“Do you know him?” asked Sora.

“We’ve, met,” he replied. The voice in his head laughed, ‘ _He’s the closest thing you ever had to a friend._ ’ He couldn’t risk telling them the truth, not with Kurosaki looking moments from ending them both. “Is that all? If it is then I need to go. I need to find Yugo, before he does something incredibly stupid.”

He strode past Shun, only to stop when Shun finally spoke. “How do you know Yuto?”

“Hmm? Let’s just say we have more in common than just a face.”

“What could you two have in common?”

“Well–“ Yuri opened his mouth to respond but stopped short when a new voice entered the fray.

“Well, isn’t this my lucky day? Two traitors and an Xyz runaway.”

All attention shifted to the roof of the ruined building nearby, the place the voice had come from.

The speaker raised a gloved hand and waved almost good-naturedly. “Hello.” Kinked red hair framed his face and he seemed to be dressed in a half suit-half vest combination outfit.

Yuri scowled slightly, “Hello Macfield.”

“I have to say Yuri, I’m surprised to see you here of all places.” He crossed his legs, one arm resting in his lap, with his other hand under his chin.

“That makes two of us.”

“I’m also surprised that you of all people would defect and throw your lot in with, them,” he gestured with his hand to Shun, who had him fixed with a harsh glare.

Yuri hesitated, what on earth was Dennis talking about? Defected, where had he gotten that idea?

“Dennis what are you–”

“When I was told you were missing I thought maybe you had been captured.” He sighed dramatically, “But a traitor? I suppose it’ll make crushing you all that much sweeter.”

Yuri snorted, “Please, we both know you’ve never beaten me.”

Shun narrowed his eyes, looking between the pair. “Seems you’ve more than just met him.”

Yuri shrugged, “I may have left out a few details, not that it really matters right now.”

Dennis stood up gracefully and bowed dramatically, “As much as I would love to stay here and chat, I do have a rendezvous to keep.”

“Come back here you bastard!” Shun took off to follow him, but it was too late, Dennis was already gone, having seemingly vanished into thin air.

“Don’t waste your breath, you’ll never catch him,” said Yuri with a sigh. “I wish he’d stayed though, I have a few questions for him.”

Shun snarled, spinning around on him. “What do you know about him?”

“About why he’s here? No more than you do; about Dennis in general? A lot more than you.”

He reached for Yuri, hands only stopping inches from him when Yuri’s duel disk beeped, a small light flashing on it.

“Yuri? Yuri are you there?”

Shun froze as a familiar voice sounded through it. “Ruri?”

“Shun? Oh please tell me you haven’t done anything to Yuri.”

“Don’t worry, I’m still here,” said Yuri. “Your brother is just, keeping me company to the moment. Did something happen?”

“We found Yugo, so you can stop looking and come back,” she said with an exasperated sigh. In the background could be heard the tell tale sound of Rin chewing out Yugo.

Before Yuri could respond, Shun leapt in, grabbing hold of his arm to get a better look at the view screen. “Ruri! Why are you, helping him?” he asked. “He’s one of them!”

“Because he’s also one of us, he’s like Yuto and I,” she said.

Yuri sighed, half heartedly attempting to pull his arm from Shun’s grip. “I really do need to get going you know,” he said. “If you wish to pester us with questions then you can find us at the docks later.” He twisted about, slipping from Shun’s grip like a snake. “However, out of courtesy for Yuto I will give you this warning. Do not under estimate Dennis and do not let his appearance fool you. He is skilled, let your guard down and he’ll trample you.” A smirk tugged at his lips. “Of course, if your last duel is any indication of skill then you shouldn’t have any problem against him.” A card flicked out between his fingers and Sora and Shun instinctively leapt back. “I’m sure we’ll be seeing each other again.” There was a flash of purple light and Yuri was gone.

 

Somewhere in the ice field, the air shimmered and twisted as half a dozen blue clad masked figures materialized out of thin air.

“This is the meeting place with our contact in Standard,” said one as they looked around, taking in the new dimension.

 

For a moment Yuya thought the entire world had fallen apart around him. One moment he was walking with Yuto in relative silence, the next he was on his knees, one hand clutching his chest as a blinding pain shot through him and the most ear shattering crack split the air.

The next moment a sickening wave of energy rolled out through the dimension and Yuto joined Yuya on the ground in pain.

 

Yuzu and Selena shrieked, dropping to their knees as the distorted energy rushed through the Barian World.

 

In Standard, Yuri, Yugo, Rin and Ruri paused momentarily as a strange, unpleasant feeling prickled deep in their chest.

 

“Yuto, look at the sky,” shuddered Yuya, raising a hand to point at what had captured his attention.

The once peaceful sky was now ravaged by a sickly looking tear, through which seemed to pour a violet light and unpleasant energy.

“No! They must have broken through!” Yuto looked from the tear, then to Yuya. “Can you stand, I think we may have to fight soon.”

Yuya nodded as he pulled himself to his feet slowly, swaying on the spot. “Why did that hurt so much? It was, like there was screaming in my head.”

“It’s this world,” said Yuto, steadying Yuya carefully. “It’s crying out in pain, because of that.” He pointed to the rift, face twisted in a mask of rage. “Yuya, we need to find the invaders and stop them.”

“If something happens to this world, we’ll be destroyed, won’t we?” asked Yuya. It was a question that had been dogging his mind for some time, what would happen to them if something happened to the Barian World. Now he was pretty sure he knew the answer.

Yuto nodded, “That’s why we must protect it, and everyone in it. We need to send the invaders back and close that rift.”

Yuya nodded and, gathering his second wind, took off with Yuto in the direction of the rift.

 

_When Yugo opened his eyes he was staring at the sky, the dark vast, starry sky. So, he’d ended up outside then? He wondered how that had happened; the last thing he remembered was the dark, foul underbelly of the garbage facility._

_As he gazed at the sky he realized something, he could see stars, which was odd because even on the clearest of nights it was nearly impossible to see stars for all the lights in the City. A scant few were visible, but nothing like what was above him, a vast expanse of tiny glittering dots that painted the sky._

_‘So, this is the afterlife then?’ he wondered. It would explain why he didn’t feel so tired any more, or sore._

_He closed his eyes again, taking in the world around him through his other senses._

_The ground under him was cool and smooth, like stone. He let his fingers glide over the surface as they slid to rest at his sides. It wasn’t gritty or dusty feeling at all, like he was used to at home, but like the surface of a flat stone._

_The air around him was cool, but pleasantly so, a gentle breeze rolling through the area and tickling his skin._

_It was silent, not a peep from bird or beast was to be heard, nor the familiar roar of distant traffic and the rumble of D-Wheels. A faint crunching sound reached his ears, like someone walking over small rocks. Then voices, high pitched and lilted, joined the sound. His eyes flew open and he sat up quickly, straining to hear the voices. He could have sworn he recognized one, but that was impossible wasn’t it?_

_For a few moments he sat there listening and then he felt his heart leap in his chest as they neared him, he did know one of them._

_Wherever he was, whatever that strange place was, he wasn’t alone in it, a now he had a reason to get up, to move._

_“Rin!” he called out as he ran towards the voices, clinging feebly to this one scrap of hope. “Rin!” He ran through the rocky area, over the dips and craters and past twisting columns of crystal and rock._

_“Yugo?”_

_He rounded a bend and skidded to a stop as two figures came into his field of view. Even in the dim light, lit only by the stars above, and with the strange appearance she now bore, Yugo would recognize that face and voice anywhere._

_“Rin!” Tears of joy prickled at the corners of his eyes as he ran towards her._

_“Yugo!” Her voice lifted with excitement as she ran to meet him, leaving her companion’s side._

_They met somewhere in the middle, arms wrapped around one another and they held each other in a tight embraced, Yugo burying his face into her hair and the crook of her neck._

_“It’s you,” he stuttered, squeezing her tightly. “It’s really you. Which means I’m really dead, but you’re here, I can see you again so I don’t care.” He moved his hands to cup her face happily, bumping his forehead against hers in an affectionate gesture as tears trickled down his cheeks._

_The corner of Rin’s eyes crinkled, tears blurring her vision as she looked up at him, arms wound around his middle. “I thought I would never see you again, not after I came here. What happened Yugo? How did you get here?”_

_He shook his head, “I don’t know. I was in the garbage facility the last I remember. I heard about your accident too. I guess I just gave up after that.”_

_A hand brushed over his cheek, wiping away his tears before Rin bumped her forehead against his again. “Oh Yugo, I had no idea.”_

_“I’ll be fine now, I think. Where are we anyways?”_

_“We’re working that out. Come, there’s someone I want you to meet, she’s been helping me out.” Rin slipped her hands into his; linking their fingers together and leading him back to her waiting companion._

_Where Rin was light coloured like Yugo, white and pastel-like, the other figure was dark, deep indigos and violets, dotted with gems that glittered like stars._

_“Yugo this is Ruri, Ruri this is Yugo.”_

_“So this is who you were telling me about,” said Ruri brightly, her voice as cheerful as Rin’s._

_Rin nodded, “Now that we’ve found him, why don’t we look for Yuto. He has to be around here somewhere.”_

_It wasn’t till after the excitement of seeing Rin again wore off that the realization that not only were they both in fact dead, but they were, some kind of alien in a strange world set in and the questions just started poring forth from Yugo, questions that Rin had no answer to._

 

Yugo held his ground, staring down the masked figures that had him and the girls surrounded at the outskirts of the ice field. They were waiting for Yuri to return when they came out of seemingly nowhere and they didn’t look like any of the competitors. Their faces couldn’t be seen for the masks they wore and Yugo wondered if the coloured gemstones on the masks were indicative of some kind of rank.

“Looks like we found some stragglers,” mocked one, a wicked grin on his face as he stared down Yugo.

“Who the hell are you?” snarled Yugo, taking a defensive stance, his duel disk raised in front of him.

 

Yuto skidded to a halt as they came to the source of the rift, and the three figures that stood at ground zero. Figures clad in blue uniforms and gem studded masks.

“No, it can’t be, it can’t be them.”

“Yuto, what’s wrong? What is it?”

 

“It’s-”

 

“We’re-”

 

“ ** _The Obelisk Force!_** ”


	15. Standard Arc part 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh hey, look what's back. And you're getting a double update to make up for the missed week.
> 
> Also, I am using the anime effects for cards, rather than their IRL ones. because for the most part those benefit me more(like Yuto's RUM card). In cases like Odd Eye's and Dark Rebellion's effects, not so much(level 5 or higher monsters, ugh).
> 
> While writing the duels for this chapter and looking at monsters I discovered something highly amusing. Yuto and Yuri could actually, effectively, tag duel.  
> DR only needs two level 4 monsters to summon it. At least one of Yuri's monsters is level 4(we've only seen like, 3 of them though so he may have more).  
> SV only needs two dark(non token) monsters for materials. All of Yuto's monsters are dark attribute.  
> Congrats Yuto, your deck can support your Fusion counterpart's surprisingly well.

Yuto trembled with barely restrained fury, hands balling into fists at his sides.

“No, why are they here? They shouldn’t be here.”

Yuya’s brow creased with worry, he’d never seen Yuto so angry before. “Yuto, who are the Obelisk Force?” he asked.

“They’re the reason for all of this, they led the invasion of my homeland and spearheaded its destruction. They are the elite soldiers of Academia. So why are they in this world?” He didn’t wait for Yuya to respond, tearing off towards them.

Yuya winced as Yuto moved past him, something felt very wrong, Yuto’s energy made his skin prickle uncomfortably and it trickled into his chest.

“Yuto…”

“You bastards! How dare you show your faces here!”

The Obelisk Force turned to face him, clearly not expecting anyone else to be there.

“Seems we have a welcoming committee,” said the red gemmed soldier. “How interesting.”

“I will send you back to the dimension you came from, and make you regret ever crossing my path!”

“Yuto!” Yuya called out as he rushed to Yuto’s side, “You can’t take on all three of them! We’ll take them on together.”

“This isn’t your fight Yuya.”

“Yes it is, they’re in this world, that makes it both of our problem now.” He placed a hand on Yuto’s shoulder and the dark Barian looked away.

“Fine, just don’t get in my way.”

 

“I don’t know who you people think you are, but I’m not letting you get any farther,” said Yugo. They’d called themselves Obelisk Force, and if Ruri’s reaction was anything to go by, they were bad news. She had gone pale as a ghost at the site of them and it took Rin to keep her from collapsing.

“Yugo, can you hold them off?” asked Rin. “We’re going to find Yuri.”

Yugo grinned and shot them a thumbs-up. “Yeah I can keep’em busy. Heck I’ll have them beat before you get back.”

“Please be careful,” said Ruri nervously as she watched him.

“Don’t worry about me,” said Yugo. “Now-”

 

Yuto raised his arm, a glowing blue blade materializing from his duel disk. “Let’s-”

 

“ **Duel!** ”

 

“I’m taking the first move! I summon Phantom Knights of Ragged Gloves, and through its effect, I special summon Phantom Knights Silent Boots.” The two monsters materialized on the field. “I use my two level 3 monsters to construct the overlay network!”

 

_Souls of knights who fell on the battlefield,_

_Revive here and now, and become the light that breaks the darkness!_

_Xyz Summon!_

_Appear, Rank 3, Phantom Knights Break Sword!_

 

A large black horse leapt onto the field, a headless rider upon its back who swung a large sword, blue flames creeping out through the monster’s joints.

“And through Phantom Knights of Ragged Gloves effect, since it was used to summon an Xyz monster, Break Sword gains 1000 attack points!”

Yuya’s eyes widened in shock, Yuto had just managed to summon a monster with 3000 attack points on his first turn.

“Since I can’t attack on my first turn, I’ll set 3 cards and end my turn.”

“It’s my–“

“My turn!” The green-gemmed soldier cut Yuya off before he could act, taking over his turn. “Summon Antique Gear Hound Dog and activate its effect, dealing you 600 points of direct damage!”

A creature like a green, mechanical bulldog appeared on the field and tore towards Yuto, striking him viciously. “And now, direct attack!” It let go of Yuto and charged towards Yuya, sinking its jaw into his arm and dealing 1000 points of damage.

The pattern continued, with both the red and yellow-gemmed soldiers summoning Antique Gear Hounds of their own and inflicting effect damage on Yuto and a direct attack on Yuya.

Yuya trembled where he stood, clutching his am in pain. The attacks, they were real as was the damage, as if they were dueling with Real Solid Vision, even though this wasn’t an Action field. Suddenly the prospect of losing a duel there became a lot more frightening.

The Obelisk Force, they were brutal, reducing Yuto’s life points to 2200 and Yuya’s to a mere 1000 in only a few turns and as well as getting some set cards onto the field.

Finally, however, it was Yuya’s turn.

“I active the spell card Double Summon! Next I summon my Entermate Discover Hippo to the field, then through its effect I treat it as two tributes to summon Odd Eye Pendulum Dragon! Appear! Wondrous and with beautiful dichromatic eyes! Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!”

The top hat and bow tie wearing hippo appeared for a moment before dissolving into light as it was replaced by a large, bipedal dragon with red and green eyes. It roared, snapping its plated tail against the ground.

“Now, attack that Antique Gear Hound! Spiral Strike Burst!”

Odd-Eyes roared as it charged, running through the metal beast and towards the duelist controlling it, dropping 4000 life points to 2500.

“To bad, activate my continuous Trap, Antique Gear Reborn. Now my Antique Gear Hound returns to the field, with 200 more attack points.”

“I activate Mystical Space Typhoon, and target you trap!” One of Yuto’s facedown cards flipped up and an inky black whirlpool of energy swallowed up the trap on the other side of the field.

Yuya gulped and took a hesitant step back. “I end my turn.”

The energy from Yuto flared viciously and Yuya winced, his skin prickling. Yuto barely reacted, as if he didn’t even notice.

“From my hand I activate the spell card, Rank-Up Magic! Phantom Knights Launch! Using this and Phantom Knights-Break Sword I summon a monster one rank higher!”

 

_Formed from pitch-black darkness,_

_Fighting those foolish enough to oppose it with its treacherous fangs!_

_Now, descend!_

_Rank up! Xyz Change!_

_Come Forth Rank 4! Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon!_

 

The ghostly knight reared up as it was sucked into the overlay network. A roar rumbled through the air as a new monster took to the field. A forked, serpentine tail snapped in the air and thin, jagged wings flapped. Four shimmering lights swirled around it; the overlay units from Break Sword were now Dark Rebellion’s; while Break Sword itself and the Rank-Up magic card had also become overlay units.

Yuya shuddered, a cold feeling settling in his stomach as he looked at the beast. Something about it unnerved him.

“First I detach one overlay unit to halve Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon’s attack and add the missing attack points to my own monster until the end of my turn! Treason Discharge!”

Dark Rebellion’s wings flared and it roared as its attack points rose to 3750.

“Then I attack your revived hound! Lightning Disobey!” Dark Rebellion tore through the air and right through the Gear Hound before returning to Yuto’s side.

And it seemed he wasn’t done yet. “Next I activate the spell Armored Xyz. I target the Phantom Knight Break Sword in my graveyard and attach it to my Dark Rebellion and treat it as Break Sword.”

“Why would you do that? You just weakened you own monster!” laughed one of them, watching as Dark Rebellion’s attack dropped by over 1000 points, all the way to 2000.

Yuto snarled but didn’t respond to the insult. “Now Dark Rebellion, attack that hound! Lightning Disobey!”

The slender, purple dragon charged across the field and the sound of tearing metal filled the air as it grabbed the Antique Gear Hound and rent it asunder.

“Then, by sending Beak Sword to the graveyard, Dark Rebellion can attack again! Lightning Disobey!”

Yuya shuddered as he watched the dragon attack yet again, Yuto was ruthless and relentless, and it scared him.

“Then, I activate my trap, Overlay Accel. By detaching one overlay unit, I can attack again. And I have three of them.”

 

Yugo grunted as he faced down the three members of Obelisk Force that stood before him. All the work into summoning Clear Wing and he couldn’t even use it because of the spell card they’d played called Fusion Trench. As if being unable to attack wasn’t bad enough, it allowed them to attack him directly with their Fusion Monsters, regardless of the fact that he had a 2500 attack point monster on the field to protect himself.

Two Antique Gear Triple Bite Hound Dogs and an Antique Gear Hunting Hound Dog stared him and his now 400 life points down from the other side of the field.

He needed to get rid of that spell card before things got worse. But nothing in his hand or on the field would help.

“Damn.” He cursed under his breath, holding his side in pain. Even if he activated his spell to destroy their monsters it wouldn’t do a thing to their life points.

“So much for handling yourself, Yuugo,” came a familiar voice form behind him. “I guess it’s my turn to cut in.”

_Intrusion Penalty: 2000 Points_

Yuri barely winced as his life was cut in half as he strode into the duel. “Well, it seems we have rats some to take care of.” He wrinkled his nose in disgust at the sight of the Obelisk Force. “Now, hurry up and end your turn so I can go.”

“I end my turn,” muttered Yugo. He couldn’t believe it was coming down to being saved by Yuri. He was never going to be allowed to live this down.

“First I pay 800 life points to active the spell Predator Planter to special summon Predator Plant-Fly Hell. Then I summon Predator Plant- Squid Drosera.” A malicious grin spread across his face as two vicious looking plant creatures appeared on the field, the first looking like a cluster of very hungry Venus Fly Traps. The second looked like a tree trunk with toothed leaves springing off it and eyes adorning the base.

He smirked, “Fusion Trench might stop him from attacking you, but it won’t stop me.” He turned around a card in his hand. “From my hand, I activate the spell, Fusion! I fuse Fly Hell and Squid Drosera together!”

 

_"Two beautiful flowers with an insect-alluring fragrance!_

_Now become one, and from the hell beneath your petals, give birth to a new terror!_

_Fusion Summon! Appear!_

_Poisonous dragon with hungering fangs._

_Level 8!_

_Starve Venom Fusion Dragon!"_

An unsettling roar rippled through the air and a look of terror crossed the faces of the Obelisk Force. A large, violet dragon took to the field, covered in fanged mouths in places mouths should not have been, while shimmering red orbs adorned its wings and back.

“Starve Venom’s effect activates, raising it’s attack by the combined attack of all special summoned monsters on the field.”

Their eyes widened as the realization sunk in, watching as its attack rose from 2800 to 8900.

“Ah but I’m not done yet,” he tutted, shaking a finger. “Now I activate starve Venom’s second effect. Once per turn, Starve Venom can gain an opposing monster’s effect, and I think I’ll take yours.” He pointed to one of the Triple Bite Hounds. “If I remember correctly, that will allow me three attacks this turn, and prevent you from activating spell or trap cards during my attack.” He narrowed his eyes as Starve Venom roared again, “Now, lets clear out this vermin. Starve Venom, attack!”

 

Yuya panted heavily, looking nervously in Yuto’s direction. Ever since the duel had started something had felt, wrong. And the feeling had only gotten worse when Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon took to the field.

It was as if Yuto was cloaked in a sickly, dark aura, pulsing with his rage as he bore down on the Obelisk Force.

It felt so wrong to see, and so not Yuto. Yuya shook his head, this wasn’t Yuto, not the Yuto he’d grown to know. The Yuto he knew was kind, this one held murder in his eyes.

“Yuto…”

The remaining Obelisk Force duelist looked as if he was reevaluating his options about the duel. His two comrades were passed out on the ground, having taken powerful attacks from Dark Rebellion, which still had one more attack to go. It was brutal, giving them no recovering time in between attacks as it thrashed them.

Yuto called out for an attack and the dragon roared, its cry echoing in the crystalline valley.

Yuya winced again, gabbing his chest as the fiery pain burned, increasing with Yuto’s rage. The more furious he got, the worse the pain felt.

This was wrong, it was so wrong, duels weren’t meant for something like this, to leave the opponent battered and bruised and fearing for their lives. They were meant to bring joy and smiles, to connect people.

“Stop it Yuto!” he cried. “Enough is enough, its over.” He lunged for Yuto’s arm, grabbing it as Yuto tried to command Dark Rebellion to attack again, even though his opponent was down, life points at zero. “Yuto please, you have to stop.”

“Yuya,” Yuto growled, trying to pull his arm free.

“Stop it Yuto, the fight is over, you won, just stop.” Yuya pleaded, still holding onto him.

“You don’t understand, what they did, how they hurt us,” he clenched his jaw, “You wouldn’t understand.”

“I know you’re hurting Yuto, because I can feel it too!” Yuya trembled as he held Yuto’s arm. “I can feel it inside, and it hurts. It’s like a searing flame, and it burns so badly.”

That halted Yuto in his tracks and he looked down at Yuya, eyes softening in worry, he’d never meant to hurt Yuya. “Yuya…”

“Please stop it, it’s over. There’s no need to keep fighting like this. Please.”

Slowly, Yuto let his arm fall to his side and Yuya felt the burning sensation begin to die in his chest, Yuto’s rage was dissipating, or at least drawing back for the time being.

“We still need to know why they are in this world,” he said, looking towards the downed Obelisk Force soldiers. “And how they got here.”

 

Yugo had never seen Yuri duel, and now he was beginning to wish it had stayed that way. The Fusion duelist was ruthless, one attack and he’d wiped out all three of his opponents.

“Now, what brings the likes of you over to this dimension?” asked Yuri as he strode over to the downed duelists. “And don’t think you can just run away.” He put is foot down on the duelist’s wrist so he couldn’t go for his duel disk. “Now, you’re going to answer my questions, understood?”

 

“ _What are you doing in this world?_ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Needless to say, I have a new appreciation for people who manage to write these damn duels. It's hella hard. I don't like it. It's not nearly as 'make it up as you go along' as it seems. To many rules.
> 
> I had to ah, fudge with Yuto's deck a bit(giving him cards he, doesn't canonically have >.>) because honestly, against the OF, his deck sucks. Most of his spell/trap cards can only be activated when the opponent attacks him, which is negated by the effects of OF's monsters. Plus it was the only way to do what I wanted-Dark Rebellion cause massive overkill damage while taking out all of them at once.
> 
> I have no idea how he didn't die in Heartland with a deck like that against OF.
> 
> Also a clarification on Yuto's final turn, since it might be confusing(and I hope to GOD this is actually, you know, doable b/c I have no desire to rewrite this fight AGAIN). Along with the LP calculations if you weren't sure
> 
> Ranked up Break Sword(w/ 2 overlay units) to Dark Rebellion(4 overlay units-2 from Break sword, the RUM card and Break Sword itself*).  
> Detach one OU(which happened to be Break Sword, sending it to the grave) for an atk boost.  
> Attack Deals 2550 LP damage (2500LP->0)
> 
> Activated Armoured Xyz, reattached Break Sword and tread DRXD as Break Sword for another attack.  
> Attack Deals 1000 LP damage (4000LP->3000)
> 
> Detach Break Sword(returning DRXD to normal) for another attack.  
> Deals 2750 LP damage (4000LP->1250)  
> Activates Overlay Accel for 3 more attacks (direct attacks with 3750 attack points) since he has three more OU left. Which drops the remaining two to 0 with one attack left. 
> 
> *While the IRL effect of the RUM card states that the Xyz monster cannot have OUs attached, this is not mentioned in the anime effect, so I'm just going with that it CAN be ranked up even with OU. And thus, the ranked up monster gains any remaining overlay units. And yes, this Rank Up is doable since both are Dark Monsters, which is basically the only condition.
> 
>  
> 
> Yuri's duel was, easy to write in comparison. Though I did almost forget to take into account the fact that Yugo had Clear Wing out when calculating SV's atk increase from special summoned monsters. Pfttt. 
> 
> 1800+1800+2500=6100 atk points added to SV's 2800  
> Yeah it was overkill but who cares.  
> SV is ruthless and I love it.
> 
> And if it seems like the OF cheated, they probably did.


	16. Standard Arc part 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is your second chapter! The bonus update to make up for me being gone.
> 
> So, a small update for those who don't follow me on tumblr.  
> I managed to get a fair bit written during my 2 weeks vacation. In fact I finished the first arc of this story(aka the 'Standard Arc') and finally dragged everyone into Synchro. 
> 
> Now, if I continue updating one chapter a week, that means we'll hit the end of the arc around the beginning of October. Yeah there's that many chapters to go. However, what I'm thinking is, starting with the next update, I do two a week(Saturday and Wednesday maybe, idk), which will bring us to the end of the arc around early September instead.  
> Then, while I build up a buffer, I revert to one chapter a week.  
> Thoughts?

At Yuya’s urging, Yuto took several deep, calming breaths-or the equivalent thereof for a mouthless being- before he approached the downed duelists. He couldn’t let his anger take control of him, not when he needed information from them, and not if it was going to hurt Yuya.

“Why are you here?” he repeated, standing over them. Even if he wasn’t pouring out rage he was still an imposing figure. “Why is Academia here?”

“The-the Professor’s orders,” stammered the duelist.

Yuto narrowed his eyes, hands clenching into fists at his sides. “So, he wants to destroy this realm too I assume?”

The masked duelist stammered, verbally flailing as he tried to find the words to speak, too frightened of Yuto to say anything remotely coherent. “No, not destroy, unite!” they finally blurted. “We were just told, to scout this world and-,” A beeping sounded from their duel disks and before he could finish, all three members of the Obelisk Force vanished in a flash of blue light.

“No!” Yuto charged at the spot where they’d been but it was to late, they were gone and so were his chances of getting answers.

 

The downed duelist yelped in pain as Yuri pressed down on their wrist with his heel.

“I asked you a question, now answer me. What are you doing in this dimension?”

“Looking for, something,” they wheezed, trying to squirm free.

“Looking for what?” He pressed down harder, eliciting a scream from the soldier.

“Yuri what are you doing?!” Yugo stumbled over to him, grabbing him by the shoulder and yanking him back. “You’re hurting them!”

“That’s the point Yugo! They won’t tell us anything unless we force them,” he snapped. Bending down he grabbed the Obelisk duelist by the collar. “What were you looking for?” What, not who, the use of ‘something’ had grabbed Yuri’s attention. When they’d invaded the Xyz dimension it had been to search for a person, but this time they were searching for a thing.

“I-I don’t know. The Professor said we would know when we found it. He called it a, nexus point.”

Yuri narrowed his eyes, what on earth was that? He’d never heard of such a thing, let alone have any idea why the Professor would want to get his hands on it. “What were you going to do when you found it?”

“Destroy it.”

Yuri dropped him in surprise, the Professor wanted to destroy it? That could not be good. He didn’t know what a ‘nexus point’ was nor what it did, but destroying it could only invite disaster if the Professor was after it.

“Yuri!” Yuto’s voice sounded through the screen on his disk and he looked down.

“Yuto?” The dark Barian looked worried and his voice was urgent.

“Grab everyone and come back here now, it’s important.” With that his face vanished from the screen.

Yuri sighed in annoyance, “I guess we’re done here then. Yugo, we’re leaving.”

“What about them?” he pointed at the Obelisk Force.

Yuri regarded them for a moment before grabbing the duel disk off the arm of the closest duelist. “Right, we can’t have them running loose can we?”

Fear flashed across their faces when they saw the duel disk pointed at them. “No, please, have mercy!”

Yuri frowned, “You mistake me for someone who actually cares. Goodbye.” He pressed a button and a blue flash illuminated the area. When it faded the three were gone.

Hands gabbed Yuri’s collar, spinning him around to face a very upset looking Yugo. “Did you seriously just kill them?” he asked, nearly shaking Yuri. “Why, there was no need for that!”

“Yugo,”

“I can’t believe you!”

The duel disk clattered from his hand as he reached up to grab Yugo’s hands to pull them off him. “Yugo, shut up for a moment!”

Ruri sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose; “You sent them back to Fusion didn’t you?”

“Thank you,” said Yuri with an over dramatic bow before turning back to a now silenced Yugo.

“What?” squeaked the Synchro duelist.

“I sent them back home, where they belong,” said Yuri. “Honestly, did you really think I was going to kill them?”

“I, well yeah, you looked angry enough to do it.”

“I debated on doing it, but I’d rather not sentence anyone else to my fate unless I have to. Now, speaking of going home,” he extended a hand to his side and a wormhole opened up. “Yuto calls.” He glanced back at Yugo once more before stepping through the portal. “Besides, did you really think I would card someone in front of Ruri? I’m not _that_ heartless.”

 

Yuto sighed, lowering his arm and looking back to the rift in the sky. He had no idea how they were going to close it, or even if they could, but either way they needed everyone back.

Yuya jogged to his side, placing a hand on his shoulder, “I brought Yuzu and Selena,” he said, gesturing to the pair behind him. “Did you call the others?”

Yuto nodded, “Yes, they should be joining us shortly.”

“Yuya, what is that?” asked Yuzu, looking up at the sky.

He shook his head, “I don’t know, it appeared when the Obelisk Force did.”

“Obelisk Force?” Selena narrowed her eyes. “What were they doing here, and how did they get here?”

“We don’t know,” replied Yuya, somewhat crestfallen. “For either one. They vanished in a blue light before we could get any answers.”

“Forced teleportation probably,” said Selena with a nod. “It’s something built into Academia’s duel disks, so they can call you home if you’re wounded, or give away too much information.”

“They said the Professor sent them to scout this place out, but we couldn’t learn anything more than that,” said Yuto, crossing his arms. “Do you have any idea what he might want here?”

Selena shook her head, “No, I wasn’t even aware this was a real place until I woke up here. I’d only heard stories.”

Before anyone could ask what she meant about that, a wormhole opened up and the other four Barians stepped through, morphing into their mouthless Barian forms as they entered the Barian World.

Yuri shuddered, wings twitching against his back as he looked up at the sky. “What in the name of Ra is that?” He pointed at the large, discoloured rift that marred the sky.

“That is why we called you here,” said Yuto, brow furrowing. “It appeared when the Obelisk Force appeared in this world.”

“Wait, they were here too?” asked Yuri. At the look of confusion on Yuto’s face he continued. “We had a run in with them in Standard as well. I dealt with them but, it’s worrying that they were here and in Standard. Do you know what they wanted here?”

Yuto shook his head. “And we have no idea what to do about, that either.”

“I can still feel it,” said Yuya, pressing a hand to his chest. “It’s like it’s crying in pain, we have to get rid of that thing Yuto.”

“Is that what we felt earlier?” asked Yuzu. “This, wave of energy hit us and it hurt so bad.”

Yuya nodded, “I think they came through it to get here, we need to close it up, so no one else can get through.” He looked towards the rift, it seemed to pulse and throb in time with the pain he felt. He just wanted to fill it in, to close it like one would a regular wound.

While the rest of them discussed what to do and filled one another in on what had happened in the respective dimensions, Yuya started to walk.

He wasn’t sure where he was walking to, just that he was walking, following a tug of energy. It was as if it was calling to him somehow. He turned his gaze skywards and towards the ‘heart’ of the Barian world, the once shimmering white orb now tinged an angry red.

‘ _It really is alive_ ,’ he thought.

“Yuya!” Yuzu’s voice reached his ears and he stopped, looking back over his shoulder at he as she ran towards him. “Yuya, where are you going?”

He looked around, for the first time taking a moment to look at where he was, and found himself standing on the edge of a beach and a shimmering red-gold sea.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I was just, walking.”

“And you walked away from everyone, without even saying anything.” She put her hands on her hips and shot him an annoyed look. “What were you thinking?”

“I wasn’t,” he admitted. “I just, I felt like this is where I had to be.” He tuned his head to look at her, tearing his gaze from the ocean, “Have they come up with anything yet?”

She shook her head, “No, I’m afraid not.”

Yuya nodded in understanding before looking back at the sea. He’d never seen this part of the Barian world before, at least not up close. When he first arrived he’d been able to see it from the upper balcony of the palace. He took another step forward, then another and kept walking, even after he’d entered the water.

“Yuya!” Yuzu called to him again, but this time he didn’t answer, as if he were lost in a trance

“Yuzu what’s going on?” Yuto came over the small hill, followed shortly after by the rest.

“It’s Yuya, he just keeps walking.”

Sure enough, he was still wading out in the shimmering water, gaze trained on the sky.

He could hear it reverberating through his very soul, something calling out to him from within the world’s heart, the shining light in the sky. It was in pain, and the rift and its sickly violet energy were like a poison to it.

“What do I do?” he asked, stopping in the waist deep water. “What is it you want?”

Back on shore, the gems in Yuzu, Ruri, Rin and Selena’s bracelet’s had begun to shine.

“They’ve never done that before,” said Yuzu, watching the glow from her bracelet.

“What does it mean?” asked Selena.

The light from the gems transformed before their eyes, from a solid glow to shimmering streams of light, stretching from their bracelets out towards the sea. The trails led right to Yuya, his head tilted back as his pendulum glowed with a soft blue light.

He closed his eyes, letting the feeling of calm and peace wash over him, fingertips trailing through the water. He could feel it again, the energy that was calling to him, crying out. Tilting his head back, the crystal pendulum flashed, illuminated by the energy it had just absorbed. A pair of intertwining steams of light danced in the air, flowing out from the pendulum and towards the rift in the sky. They struck the rift, giving a jolt that momentarily shook Yuya were he stood.

Yuzu started towards him, but stopped when Yuto grabbed her shoulder and shook his head, this was something Yuya needed to do.

“Oh Yuya, I don’t know what you’re doing, but be careful,” she said, holding her hand close to her chest, the rose pink glow increasing.

Yuya trembled where he stood, legs shaking as he held his ground. Slowly but surely, the rift began to shrink in size, and the harsh red glow from the heart began to return to normal. “He’s actually doing it,” said Yuri, watching as the rift slowly vanished.

The light from his pendulum began to waver and thin out before it sputtered and died with a resounding crack, the rift now fully closed. Yuya stumbled back, falling into the water with a splash.

“Yuya!” Yuzu slipped from Yuto’s hold and ran towards her downed friend as he floated motionless in the water. She winced as she entered the water, the cold biting at her skin, but she kept moving, wading out to where he lay.

“Yuya!” Hooking her arms around him she lifted him up, cradling him in her arms. His chest rose and fell softly, as if he were merely asleep. The glow from his pendant was gone, as if it had never been there.

She sighed, her eyes softening as she held him close, brushing a hand over his cheek to push hair from his face. “Oh Yuya, you’ve really done it this time.”

Holding onto Yuya, Yuzu made her way back to the shore, where she carefully lay him down. “I think he’s just asleep,” she said, looking up at Yuto and the others as they joined her at the shoreline. “Whatever he did must have used up a lot of energy.”

“Doesn’t it feel, more peaceful now?” asked Selena. “When that rift appeared, everything felt wrong.”

“Now that you mention it, it does feel different,” said Yuto with a nod. “Come, let’s get him back to the palace so he can rest.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only one of the reasons Yuri gave for not carding the OF is the truth. Can you guess which one?
> 
>  
> 
> You'll find out/figure it out in a few chapters.


	17. Standard Arc part 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had entirely to much fun writing Sora being dragged around by Shun.

“I still don’t see why I have to follow you,” grumbled Sora, hands stuffed in his pockets as he tailed a few feet behind Shun.

Shun didn’t respond, he didn’t even bother to look at Sora, continuing his trek through the forest area.

After Dennis and Yuri had left, with not so much as an explanation for why, Shun decided he was not letting Sora out of his sight. There may have been a tournament in progress, but he wasn’t going to let someone from Fusion run loose, not after letting both Dennis and Yuri slip away. And nothing Sora said seemed to convince Shun to let him go, the Xyz duelist grabbing him by the collar when he attempted to slip off.

“I mean I’m not even pat of this tournament,” he said with an annoyed sigh.

“Do you ever stop?” asked Shun, casting him a narrowed, backwards look over his shoulder.

Sora smirked, “If you let me leave I’ll stop.”

“Not on your life.”

“Eh, it was worth a shot.”

Shun was quiet for a moment before speaking again, “What do you know, about Academia’s plans? Why did they invade my home?”

Sora pouted, “Why should I tell you? You haven’t been very nice to me you know.”

Shun scowled, turning abruptly to face Sora, who jumped back at the sight of his stern face. Wordlessly he held up his duel disk and tapped the screen with a finger. “I could card you right now if I wanted to, and I have no reason not to.”

Sora gulped, Shun’s voice was cold and it was obvious he wasn’t joking around. “Right, that’s a good point. Unfortunately, I don’t know that much,” he said. “I only know what everyone else at my level was told, that we were going to help create a utopia by uniting the 4 dimensions.” He shrugged, “It’s not my place to ask how he’s doing that. Does that help?”

Shun sighed, lowering his arm and turning away.

“I guess not. Now can I go, this isn’t my tournament, I did what I came out to do. And you even got a free warning out of it too.”

“No.”

“Damnnit.”

 

Yuya’s chest rose and fell lightly as he slept, Yuzu remaining ever vigilant at his side. He hadn’t so much as stirred since they’d brought him back from the ocean.

“Yuto, when do you think he’ll wake up?” she asked, looking up as the dark Barian came in to check on Yuya once again. “He’s been like this for hours.”

“I know, but there’s not much we can do right now,” said Yuto.

“Yuto, I think I might be able to help.” Ruri’s voice came from the doorway.

“Ruri?”

“Yugo got himself pretty battered up earlier fighting the Obelisk Force, and I was able to help him just now. I want to see if I can help Yuya too.”

“You did?”

She nodded, “Even if he did squirm a lot. You can go see if you want, he’s with Yuri.”

Yuzu looked up, “Do you really think you can help?”

She laughed softly, “I can’t make it any worse now can I?” She stopped beside Yuzu, who nodded for her to continue. She extended a hand over Yuya, a soft golden glow forming over both Yuya and her hand. “I don’t even know if it’ll do anything, it feels like he’s just drained himself of energy, but it certainly couldn’t hurt.”

 

“I didn’t even know Ruri could do that,” said Yugo, still examining himself. He’d received several injuries during his earlier fight, and Ruri, by merely laying her hands on him, had healed them right up. “I’m good as new.”

Yuri didn’t reply, leaning on the balcony, staring out at the sky, it was as if the rift had never been there.

“Yuri, are you even listening to me?”

“Hmm? Did you say something?” he asked, turning to look at him.

Yugo sighed, “Never mind, you’re just ignoring me.”

“You’re fairly easy to tune out, especially when you talk about the same thing over and over,” he said, turning back to the sky.

“Maybe we should have her fix your attitude,” he huffed, going to join Yuri on the balcony.

For a few minutes they stood in silence before Yugo spoke. “So, were you really going to card those guys?” he asked. “If Ruri hadn’t been there, would you have done that?”

“I don’t know,” said Yuri hesitantly. “I did consider it for a moment, but I didn’t want to explain to Yuto what I did if it freaked her out. It’s certainly no more than they deserve. But make no mistake, when I find the ones that carded me, I will not hesitate to return the favour.”

“That’s cold Yuri.”

Yuri narrowed his eyes and glared at Yugo, his wings twitching angrily. “Yugo, they murdered me. They drew me away from everyone, cornered me and had me killed. It doesn’t matter that it was on The Professor’s orders, they murdered me.”

“Still, it seems wrong.”

“Then hope you’re not around when the time comes, so you won’t have to watch.”

Yugo shivered, Yuri may have been on their side, but he was still a former soldier of Academia and it was through moments like this that it showed. He was frightening when he chose to be; Yugo just hoped he’d never end up on his bad side.

“So, what are we going to do now?” asked Yugo.

“I have no idea,” said Yuri, leaning his arms on the railing. “Wait for Yuya to wake up I suppose. Do you even have any idea what he did?”

Yugo shook his head, “No, it’s like he was feeding it power. You felt it to didn’t you, that tugging?”

Yuri nodded, no one had said anything but while Yuya had been feeding energy into the rift they’d all felt a strange tugging sensation in their souls. “It’s this world,” said Yuri. “It has a lot more secrets than we know.”

“Think Yuya will be alright?”

“I’m sure he’ll be fine.”

 

Chaos, the entire tournament had plunged into utter chaos in only a matter of minutes. Yuri may have dealt with three members of the Obelisk Force, but they hadn’t come alone, several other groups had spread out through the city on Dennis’ orders. The moment they encountered the other duelists however, all hell broke loose.

“So, Academia really is here,” growled Shun, holding Sora by the collar as the smaller fusion duelist tried to slip away yet again.

“What, you thought Yuri was lying?” asked Sora, who had resigned himself to being unable to escape. “Dennis probably brought these guys. I guess that’s who he had to meet.” He moved his sucker around in his mouth, “Which is bad for us.”

Shun raised an eyebrow, “Oh? I’d have thought you’d be glad to see them.”

Sora laughed, “Please are you kidding me? Didn’t you hear what Dennis called me, traitor remember. They’re the last people I want to deal with.” Shun yanked on his collar and he found himself being dragged off, towards the Obelisk Force. “Are you crazy?” he exclaimed.

Shun didn’t reply, gaze trained in on the blue clad soldiers as he strode towards them. He’d spotted the group through the trees and while he couldn’t hear what they were saying it probably wasn’t anything good.

“Tell me you don’t plan on dueling them.” Shun raised his left arm, the blade of his duel disk materializing. “Oh, you are. I am so dead. If you get me killed I am going to haunt you, you understand?”

“How about you pull your weight and help me deal with these guys?” asked Shun. “Shouldn’t be to hard for you.”

“I hate you so much,” grumbled Sora as he readied his own duel disk.

Shun called out, drawing the attention of the Obelisk Force to them. As they tuned he noticed a handful of cards in their hands.

“You cowards,” he snarled.

Sora sighed, “This is going to end badly.” Badly for the Obelisk Force that was. If Sora was lucky then he wouldn’t even have to duel.

 

While Yuya rested the rest of them convened in the main hall, discussing what to do next and what was going on.

“They said they were searching for a, nexus point,” said Yugo, leaning against a pillar, arms over his chest. “What is that anyways? I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

“Neither have I,” admitted Yuto, hand on his chin as he sat at the top of the stairs. “A nexus, that’s a connection between multiple places. But why would they be looking for something like that in Standard?”

“They said they wanted to destroy it,” said Yuri. “I cannot fathom why, unless destroying it opens something.”

“Do you think this point has anything to do with that rift we saw in the sky?” asked Yuzu, who was sitting midway up the stairs, wringing her hands nervously, still obviously worried about Yuya. Rin and Ruri sat on either side of her, having been trying to assure her that he would be fine, as far as Ruri could tell he was simply tired from energy drain.

“Perhaps, and it would make sense on how those bastards from Academia got here. We know they came through the rift somehow,” said Yuto. “Yuri, Selena, what do you make of them attacking both places at once, a simultaneous attack on Standard and the Barian world.”

“I think The Professor is getting impatient, with whatever he’s doing” said Yuri. “I doubt he was expecting anyone to be here when he sent the ones you ran into.”

Selena simply shrugged, “I don’t know. I was barely allowed outside, so I know very little about how he operates. It does seem, unusual though.”

“Yuto, if Standard has one of these nexus points, do you think the other dimensions have them too?” asked Yuzu, looking up at Yuto. “You said a nexus, is connections between many things. What if these points connect the dimensions somehow?”

“That would certainly line up with the Professor’s desire to unite the dimensions,” said Yuri.

“And why they attacked Heartland,” said Yuto with a nod.

“Not exactly,” said Yuri.

“Yuri?”

“That’s not why the invasion of the Xyz dimension happened. At least, that’s not what started it.”

All eyes turned to the winged Barian, who shifted about on the spot, gaze lingering on Ruri.

“Yuri, what are you talking about?” asked Yuto as he stood up. “Do you know something about the invasion?” He narrowed his eyes, slowly making his way down the steps. “What do you know Yuri, if you know something tell me!”

“They weren’t looking for any ‘nexus points’ with that invasion, this is the first I’ve heard of those,” said Yuri, his gaze never leaving Ruri. “They were looking for her to take her back to the Professor.”

Yuto’s gaze hardened on Yuri and the air around them seemed to crackle with energy. “How do you know all this?” he asked, voice tense.

“Because I was there, I was the one they had sent to bring her back.”


	18. Standard Arc part 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Going to give bi-weekly updates a shot for a bit. Updates Wednesday and Saturday.
> 
> Also, interobangs (this symbol ‽) are fun

Half way down the stairs, Yuto decided it was the perfect time to showcase another power held by Barians, short-distance teleportation. He vanished, only to reappear seconds later in font of Yuri before grabbing him and slamming him into the pillar nearest him, sending a crack spidering through it.

“You were what‽” Yuto’s voice echoed through the hall, silence having fallen over the group upon Yuri’s surprising admission. “You were, a part of that massacre?”

Yuri barely flinched when he was grabbed and thrown, “No. I was brought in later to find the girl. At least that was what I was told. By the time I got there I was told she was dead and that I wasn’t needed.” He reached up, extracting Yuto’s hands from his shoulders and dropping them. “If you really wish to blame someone, then I’ll direct you towards one Dennis Macfield once we return to Standard.”

“Why didn’t you say anything Yuri?” asked Yuto, hanging his head, hands balling into fists at his sides. “Why did you never say anything? If you knew why this happened, why didn’t you say anything?”

“You never asked. And I never thought it was important to bring up.”

“Not important?” There was a resounding crack as Yuto’s fist landed squarely in the space beside Yuri’s head, leaving a deep gouge in the crystal, and Yuri hoped he’d missed on purpose, especially if the burning look in Yuto’s eyes was any sign.

“You think the destruction of my home land, the massacre of my people, isn’t important, that I didn’t deserve to know the truth?” He hung his head as he let his arm fall to his side. “I should have known better. You might be a Barian like us, but you’re still a Fusion using bastard from Academia. What should the fate of some Xyz users matter to you?” He lifted his head and fixed Yuri with a harsh glare, “Get out of my sight.”

Yuri didn’t fight back, simply nodding before turning and leaving the room without so much as another word.

As Yuto turned around there was a resounding slap as Ruri’s hand struck the side of his face.

“Yuto, how could you?”

“R-Ruri?” Yuto stammered and blinked in surprise, bringing a hand to the side of his face where she’d slapped him. It hadn’t hurt, but it had been shocking nonetheless.

“He’s our ally, our friend, why would you say those kinds of things to him?”

Yuto could only stare in surprise as she berated him. Of all people he’d have thought she’d take his side. “Ruri, he lied to us, he knew about what happened and didn’t tell us. He didn’t tell you.”

She jabbed an accusatory finger into his chest, “And that gives you the right to say what you did? Think about it from his perspective, if you found yourself in his position, would you tell?” While Yuto floundered silently, trying to come up with a response, Ruri continued. “I wouldn’t, I would be too scared. I’d be afraid my allies, my only allies, would turn away from me and leave.” She sighed heavily and shook her head, “You stay here, I’m going to look for him to try to fix this.”

“Ruri…”

“No Yuto, don’t even think of trying to stop me.” She looked towards Yugo, “Make sure he stays here, and doesn’t do anything stupid.”

 

Once Yuri was outside he vanished, teleporting to the only other place he was familiar with, the ocean side.

Materializing at the edge of the shoreline he sat down, leaning against a chunk of rock.

This was exactly the reason he hadn’t said anything, he knew Yuto would react badly if he knew about his connection to the invasion. At the time he hadn’t really cared one way or another, having kept himself detached from the invasion and the consequences. But then he met Yuto and Ruri, and then it became his problem and he couldn’t remain detached anymore.

Picking up a nearby rock he threw it, watching as it sailed through the air and into the water with a satisfying plop.

“I thought I would find you here,” said Ruri as she materialized beside him. “You’re so predictable.”

“Come to chew me out too?” he asked.

“No, I think Yuto did that plenty,” said Ruri as she sat down beside him. “I wanted to make sure you were alright.”

Yuri lifted his head and looked over at her, “Even after what I did, or rather didn’t do? If anything you should have less reason to talk to me than Yuto.”

She leaned back against the rock beside him, “I admit, I am upset that you didn’t say anything sooner, I would have liked to have known this, but I’m sure you had your reasons.”

Yuri sighed, drawing his knees up and resting his arms on them. “It wasn’t that I thought it was unimportant, I just thought there were more important things to deal with at the time,” he said. “I’d just woke up here, like this, and that was a more pressing issue to me. It still is, among other things. I can’t change the past, so I see no point dwelling on it. I didn’t mean it the way Yuto said I did.”

“Yuto’s just, emotional,” said Ruri. “We lost a lot of good people during the invasion, and our lives. I got lucky, I died first, but Yuto, he had to watch me die.”

Yuri was quiet, what was he supposed to say to that? ‘Sorry that my people ruined your life and killed you’? Yeah that would go over well.

“I can’t imagine what that must be like,” he said finally. “Of course, I can barely imagine caring about someone, so that doesn’t help.”

Ruri tilted her head, “Not many friends?”

He shrugged, “Not as such, I was a bit of a loner. I suppose you could count Macfield as such at one point, since we were always partnered together but not anymore.”

“You said that name earlier, when you were arguing with Yuto.”

Yuri nodded, “I did. He was the scout they sent to locate you. Red hair, mismatched suit, fancies himself a performer and entertainer.”

Ruri clapped her hands together excitedly, “Oh, I know him.” She wilted after a moment, “But he’s fusion though?”

“He is, and finding you,” Yuri hesitated, did he really want to finish that sentence and bring her down even more? “Finding you triggered the invasion.” He looked away and back out over the water, waiting for the inevitable fallout from that revelation.

After a moment, Ruri spoke, “Why me? Why would they be after me?”

“I don’t know, I never asked. I just took my orders without question, which were to find you and bring you back,” said Yuri. “I didn’t even know what you looked like until Dennis told me who I was looking for.” He sighed, “And then I’m being told I’m not needed because the target was killed.”

“Sorry?”

He gave a snort that sounded like a laugh, “I wouldn’t worry about it to much. Not like I got in trouble for that anyways, nothing I could have done, I wasn’t even in the dimension at the time. Dennis might have gotten in some though, for not keeping a better eye on you though.”

At that Ruri actually laughed and it took Yuri a few seconds to realize that yes that was what he was hearing.

“Was that funny?” he asked, casting her a confused look.

“It’s just, how you talk about it,” she said. “So, casually, it’s just, odd. I know I shouldn’t laugh, and that it’s probably terrible that you can talk that casually about what happened. But at the same time, it’s how you talk about it.” She shook her head, “You’re not really that bad a person I think.”

“No?”

She nodded, “Mmmhmm, I don’t think anyone’s truly bad really. I think everyone’s capable of change, and they should be given a second chance.”

“A shame your brother doesn’t share that view,” said Yuri. “Pretty sure he wanted to take my head off today.”

“What were the two of you up to anyways?” she asked. “I didn’t expect to hear his voice when I called you.”

“I think he was tying to decide if he should do in Shiunin and I or not,” he replied, adjusting his position so one leg was stretched out while the other was bent up for him to lean on. “And wondering how I knew you and Yuto. I don’t think he believed me till you started speaking.”

Ruri turned her gaze downwards, fidgeting with her fingers. “Shun never used to be like that. He was kind, and warm once. But after the invasion he started shutting everyone out, I think he stopped trusting people after that.” Linking her fingers together she looked up at Yuri, “Do you think it’s possible for everyone to be friends, once all of this fighting finally stops?”

“Friends?”

Ruri nodded, “I don’t like this fighting, it hurts so many people when we should be working together. I mean, we all love dueling right, so why use it to hurt each other? Do you think there’s a way for everyone to work together and be friends after all this?”

“I don’t know. Too many people have been hurt and unforgiveable things have been done, no one’s just going to forget all that and welcome someone who hurt them with open arms.” Yuri drew both knees up, dangling his arms over them as he rested his chin on them. “But, I suppose it could be nice, to not have to fight, even if it’s a naïve dream.”

 

A soft groan sounded in the crystal room as Yuya sat up, pressing a hand to the side of his head. It was silent; the calling he’d been hearing was long gone.

‘ _What did I even do?_ ’ he wondered, swinging his legs over the side of the bed as he stood up. A soft melody was all he could remember, something calling out to him from somewhere, calling for help. It was the world itself that had been calling, he was sure of it. ‘ _Did I help you?_ ’

On shaking feet he made his way towards the sole window and looked out. The harsh looking gash in the sky was gone and the heart of the world had returned to its soft, white glow.

‘ _I guess I did_.’

A quick glance around the room revealed he was alone in it and he wondered where everyone else was. They hadn’t retuned to Standard had they? He hoped not, he didn’t want to be alone in the Barian World.

Slipping out of the room it didn’t take long to find the others.

“What’s everyone looking so down for?” asked Yuya, looking around the group scattered throughout the room. “We won didn’t we?”

Heads shot up and everyone’s gazes were trained in his direction. For a moment, no one spoke, to busy staring at him in surprise.

Yuzu had been sitting on the stairs between Rin and Selena, lost in conversation with them, while Yugo had hold of Yuto, seemingly making sure he didn’t go anywhere, while Yuri and Ruri were nowhere to be seen.

“Yuya!” Yuzu bounded towards him, flinging her arms around his neck and nearly knocking him off balance. “You’re ok, I’m so glad.”

Yuya looked around, noticing the relieved looks on everyone’s faces. “Yuzu? What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

“You don’t remember?” she asked. “After you closed the rift you just passed out. I was so worried something was wrong, we all were. You’ve been asleep for hours.”

“Hours‽” How could he have been asleep for that long? What had happened while he’d slept? “Are you ok Yuzu?”

“Huh? Yeah I’m fine, Selena and I were just a bit shook up when that energy hit. Yuto said it was probably from the Obelisk Force coming through.”

“I just hope Standard is faring better,” said Yugo, hands folded behind his head. “We had our hands full with those Obelisk Force guys too.”

“I thought you said Yuri sent them back?” questioned Yuzu, finally letting go of Yuya.

“Yeah, but they could come back right? Nothing’s stopping them from just, coming back later, especially if they’re looking for a nexus point.”

“Did Yuri and Ruri go back?” asked Yuya, “I don’t see them around.”

“No Yuri left, he had a falling out with Yuto. Ruri went to look for him,” explained Selena.

Yuto only huffed and looked away when Yuya looked in his direction. “I don’t want to talk about it,” he said.

“Yeah, it was bad,” said Rin. “I’m almost surprised the yelling didn’t wake you up. Guess you were really out of it.”

“Well I’m feeling better now,” said Yuya, stretching his arms over his head. “Even though I don’t really remember what happened.”

“What did happen?” asked Yuto. “Yuzu said you just started walking towards the ocean.”

Yuya scratched his head, scrunching his face up in thought. “It’s all kind of blurry. I remember feeling this, pain in my heart every time I looked at the sky, like this whole world was in pain too. And I felt like I was being, pulled there, like I had to go, it was where I needed to be. Everything’s a bit hazy after that. But I know I closed the rift.” He sighed, “That’s one problem taken care of, but, what about home?”


	19. Standard Arc part 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sora and Shun make the most awkward duel partners by the way(all they would do is trash-talk one another). Which is fun to write, even if their decks do not work all that well together(or allow them to properly mess with each other).

Yuri, Yugo and Ruri materialized through a portal, landing atop a building in the heart of the city, which, despite them having been gone for several hours, was still engulfed in heated duels for the tail end of the tournament.

Yuzu and Yuya weren’t recovered enough to leave the Barian World, so Yuto suggested the stay a bit longer, and Selena and Rin opted to stay behind.

“They’re still going at it,” mused Yuri as he scanned the field. His gaze landed on an in progress duel and he frowned, “It seems we have a pest problem.” He pointed towards the group, on one side were several duelists, clearly from Standard, on the other side however…

“Are you kidding, I thought we got rid of those guys?” sputtered Yugo when his gaze landed on the Obelisk Force.

“I guess they sent reinforcements, or there were more we didn’t know about,” said Yuri. “Damn.”

Several of the Standard duelists dropped to the ground and vanished in a flash of violet light. Ruri screeched, covering her face with her hands

“No, not here too.”

Yugo looked about ready to jump in as fast as he could before Yuri held him back. “It seems they have some help, I don’t think we’ll be needed now,” he said, pointing to the new two newest duelists to join the fray, one in a long purple jacket and the considerably smaller one dressed in blue a few steps behind him. “After all, we are supposed to be merely observers in this tournament right?”

“Oh, hey that’s that Kurosaki guy right? Ruri, that’s your brother isn’t it?”

Ruri looked up and pushed between them, straining for a better look at the duel. “Shun!”

“Like I said, I think they’re in good hands now. You saw his earlier duel.”

“They’ll only be effective if they stop fighting each other though,” said Ruri.

He turned back and saw that the pair had gone on to start yelling with each other, much to the bewilderment of both their allies and their enemies.

 

Sora was tired, having spend the last who knew how long being dragged through the city by Shun and from duel to duel. For the most part they’d been avoiding the actual contestants, Shun very insistent on hunting down the Obelisk Force first.

They only stopped to rest a few times, and almost never to sleep-Shun was certain Sora would take off if he took his eyes off him.

Sora was sure that by this point there was no more of the Obelisk Force left, but fate chose to prove him wrong as they stumbled upon another group, just after they finished carding several more contestants.

So he was dragged in again, this time taking a 2000-point penalty for intruding on an in-progress duel.

On one side of the field were Sawatari and Gongenzaka, on the other side were three more members of the Obelisk Force.

“Why do I have to do this?” growled Sora. “This isn’t my tournament, I wanted to leave hours ago.”

“I told you, I’m not letting you out of my sight, I don’t trust you fusion brat.”

Sora clicked his tongue in annoyance, “And I don’t like you either, but that’s even more reason send me away. I’m sure your life would be better without me.”

“At least we can agree on that. Now, don’t get in my way.” He turned his attention back to the Obelisk Force, who somehow hadn’t taken a point in damage.

“I summon Raid Raptor-Vanishing Lanius from my hand, and through its effect, summon another Vanishing Lanius from my hand. And I special summon a third Vanishing Lanius.”

Three identical metallic birds appeared on the field, one after another, their piercing screeches filling the air.

_Obscured falcon,_

_Raise your claws, sharpened by adversity._

_Spread your wings of rebellion!_

_Xyz Summon!_

_Appear now! Rank 4! Raid Raptor - Rise Falcon!_

 

The three birds transformed into beams of golden light, sucked into the whirlpool before them as a new monster appeared on the field.

“Only 100 points?” laughed a member of the Obelisk Force. “You can’t hope to win with that.”

“I detach one Overlay unit to activate Rise Falcon’s effect, until the end of my turn its attack goes up by the total combined attack of the monsters on your field.” He pointed to the three Double Bite Hound Dogs.

“But that’s,”

“4200!”

The falcon screeched as its attack jumped from 100 attack points to 4300 attack points.

“Now, take out their monsters, Brave Claw Revolution!”

At his command the falcon took off, soaring towards the fusion monsters with a screech. Each one vanished in succession, destroyed in a single blast and strike of its talons, dropping their life points down from 4000, to a mere 1100 each. Rise Falcon returned to Shun’s side, its attack dropping to its original 100.

“I end my turn.”

“Are you really leaving me to clean up your mess?” asked Sora in disbelief, “Geeze. I summon Edge Imp Frightfuloid from my hand.” The monster that appeared looked like a hellish mishmash of stuffed animals and sewing materials-a dog’s head looked like it had been stretched over the head of a doll or another toy, and bits of pencils stuck out from the yarn-ball body. It only had one arm, as shards of glass jutted out where the left arm should have been. A scroll of paper made up its neck and a glass bottle full of beads was tied to its hip.

“Then I activate Fusion and fuse together the Edge Imp Sabers and Furnimal Bear in my hand!”

 

_Demonic claws, sharp fangs!_

_Become one in the mystic vortex and show us a new form and power!_

_Fusion summon! Show yourself!_

_Mystical jungle beast that rips everything to shreds!_

_Deathtoy Scissor Tiger!_

 

A large green stuffed tiger monster appeared on the field, and much like his Scissor Bear, had a pair of blades shearing through its middle.

“Unfortunately he can’t be around for long,” said Sora with an over dramatic sigh. “I activate De-Fusion, splitting it back into the materials he’d used to summon it. “They’re not much, but they’re more than enough to beat you. Go, Edge Imp Sabers, Furnimal Bear and Edge Imp Frightfuloid! Finish this!”

Three monsters, three attacks, all of which dealt more than 1100 points of damage, ending the duel in a turn.

“Ok we won, can I go home now?” whined Sora, looking up at Shun. No answer ever came as Shun had become distracted by something else, or more accurately, someone else.

“Shun!” Ruri came running through the rocky, volcanic landscape, leaping from ledge to ledge on the way down. “Shun!” Following a short ways behind her were two more Yuya lookalikes, Yuri and Yugo if he remembered rightly.

“And where were you guys?” demanded Sora, hands on his hips, looking past Ruri to the other two. “We could have used you against that lot,” he gestured to the downed Obelisk Force. “They’re everywhere.”

“We had more pressing business,” said Yuri. “Besides, you handled it just fine.”

While Sora grumbled, Shun was at a loss for words, between seeing Ruri and two individuals that resembled Yuto, one of which was Fusion.

“Yeah, there’s four of them,” said Sora.

“Hm?”

He gestured to Yuri, “There’s four of them, Yuya, Yuto and, them.”

“Yuri, and this is Yuugo.”

Yugo blanched, “I told you not to call me that, it’s Yugo! Yugo!”

“Is someone going to explain what’s going on?” yelled Sawatari.

 

Once Yuri was gone, Yuto seemed to be in a marginally better mood, if only because he wasn’t around Yuri any more.

“Yuto,” Yuya dropped down onto the stairs beside him, “Since I can’t go back yet, can you show me, what you wanted to before?” he asked. Yuto lifted his head and Yuya quickly clarified, “Before everything went, out of control, you said there was something you wanted me to see. We never made it there, do you think we could go now?”

“You want to go now, after everything that happened?”

Yuya nodded, “It sounded important to you, so yes.”

The trip was considerably shorter this time, though Yuto was more on edge than he had been on their first trip.

“I wanted to show you why we fight, why we protect this place,” said Yuto, speaking for the first time since the pair had left. “This world, it isn’t just our home now Yuya.”

“What do you mean?”

Yuto just gestured ahead and led Yuya though the glimmering crystal spires.

“I mean that this world existed before us, and for a good reason.” He stopped and indicated for Yuya to go on ahead.

“Yuto, what is this?” asked Yuya as his gaze landed on what lay ahead, his blood running cold in his veins. Whatever he had been expecting, it hadn’t been people. Lots of regular, ordinary looking people all going about their way and interacting with each other, as if the world of red and blue crystal didn’t exist.

“The inhabitants of this world, lost souls ripped violently from life,” said Yuto. “And most of them, are from my dimension, lost during the invasion.” His hands balled into fists at his side, trembling with anger.

Yuya winced, feeling the unpleasant prickling in his chest again. “Yuto…I had no idea. So many people, and all of them are from Heartland?”

Yuto shook his head, “Not all. There are those from all the dimensions here. But this, this is why we fight Yuya, for them. This is their home now, the only place for them to go. If anything were to happen to this world, they would truly be lost.”

“Have the others seen this?” asked Yuya, tearing his gaze away and looking back to Yuto.

“Most of us. I think Yuzu, Yuri and Selena are the only ones yet to come here.”

“Can we, talk to them?” asked Yuya. “Or are they like ghosts?”

Yuto shook his head, “Not unless they seek you out first. I have never seen them leave this area. But, they seem happy here.”

Yuya was quiet as he scanned the area before looking down at his hands. Ripped violently from life, just like they had been, but what made the eight of them special enough to be turned into Barians while all these people remained looking like people?

“This is why I lost myself, against the Obelisk Force,” said Yuto. “This,” he gestured to the spirits mulling about, “would never have happened if not for them.”

“I’m sorry,” said Yuya. “But I still, I still don’t think fighting like that is right. Dueling, it shouldn’t be used to hurt people like this. It should bring everyone together, make them smile.”

Yuto sighed and shook his head, “You sound like Ruri you know?”

“I do?”

“Yes, she holds similar views. Sometimes it’s hard to believe she is related to Shun with how different they can be.”

“Then she has good views.”


	20. Standard Arc part 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ft: Yuri abusing his Barian powers. 
> 
>  
> 
> Also rewatching the earlier episodes made me realize how much of a terrible person Reiji is, throwing a bunch of unsuspecting kids into a tournament, fully expecting trained soldiers to crash it. Without warning them of the invaders or the possibility that they could DIE. And then he proceeds to sit and watch the whole thing, never lifting a finger as they're picked off.  
> :|

Sawatari had decided that the entire tournament had gone completely and utterly mad.

First there were those strange masked duelists running around during the battle royale. His first assumption had been that they were just extra obstacles thrown in to make it more complicated and to add a new level of difficulty to the semifinal round, until then he’d seen them corner a duelist and turn them into cards. He couldn’t believe his eyes; they had turned someone into a card! If he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, he probably wouldn’t have believed it. How on earth was that sort of thing even possible?

Then it got worse, he got cornered into a duel with them. His only saving grace had been that he wasn’t alone when he got roped in, making it four on three. Unfortunately it was vey quickly dropped down to two on three when two of his allies ended up turned into cards.

Then Shun cut in, joined by Sora, which really confused Sawatari, because Sora was supposed to have been eliminated, what on earth was he doing there? And trailing behind Shun no less? He didn’t have any time to ask though, as they flew in and wiped out the masked duelists in two turns, and then things got even weirder. They were joined by three other duelists, two of which bore a frightening resemblance to Yuya and one who looked like Yuzu.

“Will someone please tell me what’s going on?” he sputtered, looking from an equally bemused Gongenzaka, to Shun and the new duelists. “Who are you people?”

“Give it a rest,” sighed Sora. “You wouldn’t be able to understand anyways.”

“What was that shrimp?”

Sora flashed a smirk, “You heard me, your peanut brain wouldn’t understand what’s going on.”

Sawatari growled, only stopped from gabbing Sora by Gongenzaka, who placed a large hand on his shoulder to hold him back. “Don’t,” was all he said before turning his attention to Sora.

“Don’t you dare ask me either, I barely understand what’s going on, and I did have it explained to me,” said Sora, holding his hands up. “And this isn’t the place for it anyways.”

Yuri and Yugo had gone back to fighting with each other while Ruri tried to break them up, insisting to Shun all the while that they were in fact allies.

“But he is Fusion,” growled Shun, pointing at Yuri.

“He is, and he’s helping us,” said Ruri. “I’m not asking you to like or trust him, just don’t kill him.”

“Shouldn’t we be doing something about them?” asked Sawatari, raising his voice over the bickering and pointing to the downed duelists. “They turned people into cards!”

Yuri’s gaze flicked over to the Obelisk Force and before Shun could get to them, he started off towards them. “I have some questions, before they run home with their tails between their legs like the cowards they are.”

They started for their duel disks so as to teleport out and two of them vanished before Yuri reached them, the third however was not so lucky, as Yuri stepped down on his hand before it could reach the duel disk.

“I have a few questions for you, and since your buddies high tailed it out of here and left,” he reached down and hauled him up by the collar. They were close for a moment and the duelist flinched when he saw Yuri’s face, an act that did not escape Yuri’s notice, though he opted not to comment on it “You’re going to answer them for me. First, what is a nexus point? And second, what does it do?”

“You really think I’m going to tell a traitor like you anything?” he spat.

“What makes you think I’m giving you a choice?”

“Yuri what are you doing?” asked Yugo.

“Getting answers, we need them don’t we?” He let one hand fall to his side, holding the Obelisk duelist up by one hand. “Does it matter how?” There was a flash of violet from his right hand and the next moment the Obelisk duelist was suspended in midair, Yuri’s hand only inches away from him. “Now, answer my questions.”

“I-I don’t know, I don’t know what those are or what they’re for.”

“Really?” Yuri flicked his wrist and the man began to squirm in the air, the tips of his feet brushing the ground. “Are you sure about that?”

“I swear I don’t know.”

“Yuri stop this,” growled Yugo, grabbing his arm.

“Why?”

“Why? Are you insane? We need answers but that doesn’t mean you can torture him for them.”

Yuri snorted, “I’m hardly hurting him, I’m giving him the incentive to answer my questions. Though he seems very keen on trying my patience.”

“I told you I don’t know.”

“Then how do we find one?” asked Yuri. “Surely if the Professor is sending you to find these you must have some way to locate them. So spill it, what is it?”

Shaking he raised a hand, pointing feebly to his duel disk.

“Your duel disk? I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.” Without letting him go, Yuri removed the shield-shaped device from his arm. The violet glow vanished, dropping him to the ground with a thump. “Good, this should help us.”

“What about me?”

Yuri cocked his head to the side, “What about you?” he asked. “I don’t care what happens to you now, that’s not my problem.” He looked back at Yugo and Ruri, “We have all we need, so let’s get out of here.”

Somewhere in the city, a clock chimed out and the enthusiastic voice of Nico Smiley sounded out.

“And with that, the Maiami City Championship draws to a close!”

The magma field around the lot of them began disintegrating, transforming back into the familiar, uninteresting streets of the city. The rocks around them vanished and river of magma near them tuned back into a regular river.

“I’m afraid I can’t let you leave,” came a calm voice from up on the roadway.

All eyes turned to the speaker, a silver haired, spectacled teen. He clapped slowly as he made his way down to the group. “I have to say I am impressed, though I think you three owe me some answers,” he looked towards Yuri and Yugo, Ruri quickly moving closer to Shun. “Make that four,” he added, noticing Sora. “We picked up some, interesting readings.”

“The hell are you talking about?” asked Yuri. He wasn’t sure he liked this guy, who ever he was.

“You handled Academia spectacularly I must say.”

Yuri narrowed his eyes, “How do you know about them?”

“I could be asking you the same thing, however going by the high levels of Fusion energy we picked up earlier, I can guess.” He pushed his glasses up his face. “The better question is why are you fighting against them?”

“That’s my business.”

“Hey, if you were watching all this how come you never helped?” yelled Sawatari, pointing an accusatory finger at the youth. “We could have been killed!”

He regarded them for a moment and Yuri got the distinct impression of someone staring down at insects. Then he turned on his heel. “There will be time to talk later. For now, we need to gather the remaining duelists return to the stadium.”

 

The spectators were restless and agitated and beginning to get rowdy. The tournament had started off normal enough, with multiple cameras following the various duelists in the various areas. And then they started cutting out. One by one they stopped showing the Jr. Youth duels, focusing only the Youth and Senior groups in the arena. It was baffling because that was the largest group by far and the most interesting, being the massive battle royale.

Nico Smiley was grateful for the ending bell, it meant that round 2 was done and the winners would be returning to the stadium for the final round, they wouldn’t be able to cut away from duels then, and the crowd would stop being mad at him.

Fate however had other ideas planned as the remaining duelists, lead by Akaba Reiji, filed into the stadium and onto the stage.

“Now, with a rousing round of applause, please welcome back the victors of our intense 24 hour battle royale as they join us in the center court!”

Solid Vision fireworks exploded in the air, filling it with simmering sparks of every colour imaginable as the group entered through the far door.

The crowd roared with excitement as the group, which Reiji had rounded up throughout the city, entered the stadium.

Nico hesitated slightly; something about the group was off. While Sawatari Shingo, Noboru Gongenzaka, Kurosaki Shun, Dennis Macfield and Tsukikage all made sense to be there, Shiunin Sora shouldn’t as he’d been eliminated the previous round and there were three other people he didn’t recognize. At first he thought that Sakaki Yuya and Hiragi Yuzu had joined, until he noticed the second ‘Yuya’ and realized that it couldn’t be them.

“Ah, let us give them a warm welcome!” He did his best to hide his confusion, though the crowd soon picked up on the extras and began to show their confusion.

Futoshi frowned, “Why is Sora there?” he asked as the small trio chatted among themselves.

“And who are those three that look like Yuya and big sis Yuzu?” asked Ayu.

Yoko frowned as she looked at her son’s doppelgangers; something was definitely strange about all this.

The cheering soon gave way to confused and outraged shouting as they began to demand answers. Just at it reached a peak the image on the large t.v screen suddenly changed from the victorious duelists to Himika Akaba.

She cleared her throat and almost instantly a quiet began to fill the stadium.

“As a representative of this tournament I have an important announcement to make to everyone. As of right now, the Maiami Championship…is cancelled.”

For a moment there was a stunned silence, then murmurs of confusion filled the air, cancelled, why would that be? That made no sense at all and only arose more shouts and demands for answers from the audience. She waited a moment for the confusion to die down before speaking again.

“In the midst of our battle royale, an opposing force invaded our world. These invaders came from a dimension outside our own, and intend to wage war against us. Indeed, they have already begun to move against us. These invaders use Duel Monsters as weapons and attacked with monsters summoned with Real Solid Vision. This is why the broadcast of the tournament was cut short. We did not wish to cause a needless panic in the city. Please, do understand.”

Yuri let his gaze flick about as he listened to her talk, the crowd having gone from aging and loud to hushed whispers. This woman wasn’t pulling any punches it seemed, just outright telling everyone what was happening.

“If you please, this is footage taken from the tournament.”

All attention was dawn to the screen, upon which flickered the faces of the Obelisk Force as they cornered the Knight duelists and in a flash of violet light, turned them into cards.

Ruri buried her face into Shun’s jacket with a horrified scream and Yugo felt his stomach bottom out. That was beyond horrifying.

“Damn, you were kidding were you?” he muttered to Yuri, who seemed almost unphased by the footage. This was the first time he was seeing the carding from that close, having been some distance away.

“Did you think I was?”

“This is what our enemy can do. This is Academia’s modus operandi,” continued Himika as the crowd reacted in horror to the scene. “They defeat their opponents in a duel and turn them into cards without mercy!” Her voice was firm and determined, splitting though the worried crowd. “However, please lay your worries to rest. These cruel invaders have been repelled by the brave duelists who participated in the battle royale.”

Yuri’s gaze flicked momentarily over to Dennis and he snorted, not all of them were gone. There was still one rat in the ranks, and no way to prove it.

The image on the screen changed, flashing up scenes from their various duels, including a duel with Sora and Shun, and a scene from Yuri’s duel with the Obelisk Force when he had to intervene on Yugo’s behalf. Well, so much for keeping a low profile. He grimace and hid behind his hand when his face appeared on the screen, talk about bad luck.

“They are the heroes that protected Maiami City!”

The crowd rose into cheers and hollers and Yuri really wanted to hide; this was not supposed to be happening to him.

“I wish to bestow upon them the honourary titles of Lance Defense Soldiers–the Lancers!”


	21. Standard Arc part 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In which lots of stuff happens(this one got unintentionally long).

Sora was dead, he knew it, he was completely and utterly toast and there was no saving him. Shun was a less frightening force than the one he now found himself facing down.

“So…”

“Sora, is there something you want to tell us?” asked Yoko, arms folded over her chest. Shuzo, likewise, was staring him down, equally as unimpressed, a scowl drawn tightly across his face.

“About what?” he asked meekly.

“Sora, what is going on?” asked Yoko. “How did you end up in the battle royale? Where is Yuya?”

“And Yuzu!”

Sora gulped, what was he supposed to say? That he was pretty sure Yuya and Yuzu were in another world? The existence of other dimensions may not have been a secret any more, but the Barian World certainly was.

“I’m-I’m, ah well that’s ah,” he stammered, trying to think up something to say.

“Yuya!” Ayu squealed and Sora spun around, hope rising in his chest, if they’d come back then he was in clear. Except it wasn’t Yuya, it was Yuri, and Yugo

Yuri froze as the group locked eyes on him, the kids skidding to a stop a few feet away from him. Yoko held his gaze a moment, hope glinting in her eyes before she sighed.

“You’re not Yuya, are you?” she asked. “You look like my son, but you aren’t him.”

“No, I’m not,” replied Yuri, looking very much like he wanted to flee. “Yuri, and that’s Yugo.” He gestured to the Synchro duelist beside him. “But we are friends of his.”

Yoko raised a curious eyebrow at the statement. “Do you know where he is?”

“What about Yuzu, do you know where my daughter is? They should have been together. They-they weren’t caught up in all that fighting were they?” Shuzo interjected, almost pushing past Yoko, a frantic look in his eyes and a worried tone in his voice.

“No, they’re safe. They are currently with some friends of ours,” he said. “They’re in good hands.”

Yoko sighed, looking relieved to know Yuya was ok.

“I don’t know when they’ll be back though,” said Yuri. “Probably tomorrow though, but they’re fine.”

The three kids were still looking at him and Yugo curiously, as if trying to figure out why he looked like Yuya. He looked down at them and almost immediately they scurried back, sticking close to Yoko and Shuzo.

“He’s scarier looking than Yuya,” said Ayu timidly.

Yugo grinned and hooked an arm around Yuri’s shoulders, “Ah he only looks scary,” he said with a wide grin. “He’s really not that bad. He’s just fluff inside once you get to know him.”

“Yugo what-?”

“Shhh,” Yugo raised a finger to his lips. “They’re only kids, you don’t want to scare them do you?”

Yuri clenched his jaw, an eyebrow twitching as he folded his arms over his chest. “I swear Yugo, I am going to make you regret this later.”

“As if, you couldn’t scare me.”

“You want a bet?” The next moment Yuri had reversed the position, getting his arms around Yugo in a mock headlock so he was practically under one arm. “What were you saying about me Yuugo? And do watch what you say, there are children present after all.”

Yugo grumbled and squirmed, trying to wiggle out of Yuri’s grip but to no avail.

The sound of clapping hands distracted them both from their fight and they looked towards Yoko, who seemed to have gone from worried about Yuya to happy about something.

“You look like you could use a good home cooked meal,” she said. “Why don’t you come back and I’ll make you something.”

“No that’s-“

“We’d love too!” interjected Yugo with a grin. “Right Yuri?”

Yuri clenched his jaw as he gave Yugo a death glare, the Synchro duelist grinning stupidly up at him.

“Don’t bother arguing,” said Sora. “She’s going to feed you no matter what, you might as well just accept it.”

 

Yuri fidgeted and wiggled at he sat at the kitchen table in Yuya’s house, Yugo and Sora across from him. One of the resident cats, a white one with mismatched eyes, had taken up a spot in his lap, despite his best efforts to get rid of it.

Yugo seemed quite pleased with himself while Sora looked very at home.

“Shiunin, you do realize we have no need to eat right?” asked Yuri after a moment.

“Hm?” Sora looked up at him with a curious.

Yugo nodded in confirmation, “Yeah, we don’t actually need to eat to survive. Doesn’t mean we can’t eat though. And I for one am not passing up a home cooked meal.”

“I guess that would explain why Yuya kept forgetting to eat unless we reminded him,” said Sora.

“More than likely.”

“I understand why we’re here,” said Yuri, turning his attention to Sora. “But why are you here?”

“I live here? Or at least, I’ve been staying here anyways, after miss Yoko took me in. Where did you think I was staying?”

Yuri shrugged, “Don’t know and didn’t care. So, I take it she doesn’t know?”

“About where I’m from? No. Only Yuya and Yuzu do.” Sora looked down at his hands, sinking a little in his chair. “She’ll probably figure it out though.” He sighed, “I like this dimension, a lot. It’s nice here, I was hoping they wouldn’t get dragged into, all of this.”

“To late for that I think,” said Yuri. “Especially after today. I think we all just got drafted in.” He mumbled something about trading one army for another.

The conversation was cut short when Yoko returned to the room, carrying a tray of food.

“Alight boys, dig in!”

With food now in front of them the conversation died down almost in an instant. While Sora and Yugo munched away happily, looking as if they were in heaven, Yuri was a bit more, restrained. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d had a meal like this, something more personal than a cafeteria lunch. And since becoming a Barian he hadn’t bothered with eating at all.

“Would I be right in assuming that you knew about this other dimension?” asked Yoko after a moment. “You didn’t seem very surprised when it was mentioned.”

Sora lowered his gaze and Yugo and Yuri shared an awkward glance.

“I’ll take that to mean you knew then.”

“The only news to us was that someone in this dimension was aware of it,” said Yuri quietly. “I didn’t think anyone aside from us did.”

“Sora?” She turned her gaze to Sora, who hadn’t so much as looked at he since they’d sat down, making a point to avoid her gaze.

“I-I’d like to be excused. I’m tired, I need to sleep.” He pushed himself out from the table and bolted from the room before anyone could stop him. The need for sleep wasn’t a total lie though, he was tired, but he mostly wanted to avoid that conversation.

Sora clenched his eyes shut and he hid in the guest room, back pressed up against the back of the door. Yoko must hate him now for lying to her like that. He’d kept such a large secret from her; he might as well have lied.

He slid to the floor and drew his knees close, wrapping his arms around them and burying his face into his knees. That was it, she was going to be furious with him, kick him out even. He was sure of it; she wasn’t going to want him around.

“Sora?”

His head shot up suddenly at the sound of Yoko’s voice from the other side of the door.

“Do you want to talk?”

“Not really,” he mumbled.

“Then I’ll talk.”

Sora braced himself for the coming storm, how she was disappointed in him and his actions, how he’d lied to her and betrayed her trust. But it never came.

“I can’t begin to understand all that’s going on, other dimensions, a war, or even what you must be feeling.” Her voice was calm and gentle, very motherly. He’d only ever heard her use this tone with Yuya. “To be so far from home like this, it must be frightening. I’m not mad at you Sora, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“I’m sorry,” he said quietly. “I didn’t tell you because, I didn’t want you to get involved in all of this. But now you are anyways.”

“Sora,” she sighed, “It’s not your fault.”

“But I could have been one of them, one of the invaders,” he said. “If I hadn’t run away, that could have been me. They’re from the same dimension I’m from, even if I’m nothing but a coward and a traitor to them now.”

“Sora…”

“I’m sorry, I’ll leave if that’s what you want, and I deserve it anyways.”

“This home is always open to you, you know,” she said after a moment. “When you’re done with all this, since I don’t think I can convince you not to follow the rest of them where ever they go. You’re always welcome back here. Now, get some sleep, you’ve been up for more than 24 hours.”

Sora sniffed softly as he heard her walking away, a small smile tugging at his lips. She hadn’t been mad after all, at least not in the way he’d expected.

 

After they’d eaten, Yoko pretty much insisted and Yuri and Yugo get some rest; like Sora they’d been up for more than 24 hours straight and she wasn’t going to turn them out in such an exhausted state.

Yuri crashed on the couch while Yugo curled up in a chair; both insisting this was more than enough.

“With how she treats us, you’d think she was _our_ mother,” said Yuri as he stretched out.

“I’ll take you word on that,” said Yugo. “But it’s still nice. I never had a home cooked meal before, or had someone fuss over me like this.”

Yuri’s only reply was a disinterested ‘hmmm’, Yugo was going down that path again conversation wise and he really didn’t want to go there.

“Maybe we can make this dimension our home too, once this is all done,” said Yugo. “I like it here.”

“Just go to sleep Yugo,” mumbled Yuri as he rolled over.

As he slept, Yuri failed to notice the soft glow that came from his extra deck.

 

_Hands grabbed at Yuri’s and a friendly voice called out, faint and distant. A cluster of white, trumpet like flowers were clasped in his hands, the blooms spread wide._

_‘Moonflowers,’ he said to the obscured figure._

_The friendly voice trailed into a scream and he felt immobilized, as if restrained by an unseen force. His arms and legs locked up, even as he tried to call out and run after the trailing, fading voice._

_“Come back, come back!” He reached out again, towards a blinding white light, trying to grab the hand as it slipped away. “Don’t leave me, please.”_

 

When he finally awoke later that night, tears had dried to his cheeks, though for the life of him he couldn’t remember why he might have been crying, the dream nothing but fragments that made no sense.

He rubbed his eyes as he sat up, taking a few moments to remember where he was.

“Right, Yuya’s mother took us in.”

Yuri couldn’t remember the last time he’d been treated like this, like someone’s kid. His own parents had always been busy with work, never having time enough for him. And home cooked meals? As if.

Maybe Yugo was on to something, about remaining in Standard. After all, it wasn’t like there was anything waiting for them in their home dimensions.

Sitting up he swung his feet off the edge of the couch, he wasn’t about to get any more sleep now, even if everyone else was asleep. He looked at the duel disk sitting on the table and frowned, he still had questions he needed answering, perhaps it was high time he went and got some, and stopped playing nice.

 

Ruri ran a hand through her hair with a sigh, she owed Shun an explanation and after his encounter with Yugo AND Yuri, at the same time, it was probably overdue.

She’d gone back with him to the place he was staying in, courtesy of Akaba Reiji, though she hadn’t gotten much sleep, unlike her brother who crashed almost as soon as he lay down.

The easiest way, she figured, would be to show him even if that would open up a multitude of new questions.

She twisted the bracelet on her wrist about as she sat in the window, gazing up at the starry sky. Hopefully this wasn’t about to be a huge mistake.

Movement from the other room told her he’d finally woken up and she quietly slipped out of the window.

“Shun?”

“Hmm?”

“Can we talk?”

The door separating the rooms creaked as Shun opened it. “You going to tell me why there’s three other guys running around wearing Yuto’s face? Or how the two of you came back from the dead?”

“I can’t answer the first, because we honestly don’t know, but I owe you an explanation for the second one. I did promise.” She sighed deeply, turning the bracelet around on her wrist. “Shun, do you remember the stories we grew up with, the stories about the world of lost souls?”

He frowned and gave her a quizzical look, “The Barian World? I remember, but it’s just a child’s story.”

“Some of it might be but it’s a real place.”

“Are you listening to yourself right now? It’s a fairy tail, The Barian World, the 7 Emperors–“

“Actually it’s more like 8.”

He stared at her blankly, “What?”

“There’s, 8 of us actually.”

Shun shook his head, he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“I can prove it,” said Ruri, taking a step back to put distance between the two of them. “I didn’t think you would believe me if I just told you.” She took another step and another before stopping as a portal rippled open behind her, red light shining through.

Shun opened his mouth to speak but stopped short as her form began to change.

Bathed in red light her fair skin grew dark, like the violet black of the evening sky and tiny gems of gold and blue dotted her skin like the stars itself. A long skirt draped just past her knees and her hair seemed to roll and spill far down her back. Most shockingly, her face had become nearly featureless, lacking a nose and mouth.

“We died Shun. Yuto and I, and the others, we all died and were reborn there. I don’t know how or why, but it happened. That’s how we’re back, even if it doesn’t make sense.” Her voice shook as she spoke, fear seeping in.

“So, those other two with you, Yuri and Yugo was it? They died too?”

She nodded and stepped away from the portal as it closed, her human form once again taking over. “All 8 of us, two from each dimension.” She sat down on the edge of the bed and sighed, “And I’m worried, the Obelisk Force, they managed to get into the Barian World to. We don’t know what they want but, if something happens to that place, we’re all goners.” She gripped her skirt tightly, shoulders shaking, “I’m scared Shun.”

Wordlessly, he sat down beside her and pulled her into his arms protectively.

“I just want this fighting to stop, before anyone else gets hurt.”

 

Yuri stopped as he reached the LDS building, where he was pretty sure they were holding the Academia duelist that had been captured during the tournament, the one Yuri had taken the disk from.

In the blink of an eye he was gone, vanishing like a shadow as he flitted about. It seemed there were still some Barian powers he could access while not in the Barian World. Slipping past the few securities guards was child’s play and it wasn’t long before he found where they were holding him.

“You.”

He spoke just loud enough to be heard but the effect was enough, the captured duelist nearly jumping out of his skin at the sight of Yuri.

“How are you here? It’s not possible.”

“Here as in, in this room, or as in, alive?” asked Yuri slyly. “I saw how you reacted to me out on the battlefield, you recognized me.”

“You should be dead.”

Yuri’s lips dew in a tight scowl, “So, you were one of those three then. Good, then I was right and you can answer my questions.”

“Why would I answer anything of yours?”

Yuri smirked and raised his arm, showing him the duel disk on it, one with a familiar shield shaped figure. “Well that’s up to you then, and how you want things to go. I might be more merciful if you answer my question.” He lowered his arm, “Now tell me, why was I put down like a lame animal? What post did I abandon to earn such a fate?”

 

“Akaba Reiji sir!” The door to his office flew open as a breathless and red-faced man burst in.

Reiji lifted his head from his hands slowly, peering at him over the top of his glasses. “What is it?”

“It’s, it’s the duelist you had us capture earlier! He’s, well, you need to come see this for yourself.”

He frowned and stood up, following the nervous guard down to where they held their prisoner. He was shaking and rambling the entire way there and Reiji didn’t even hear half of what he said. He stopped at the cell and gestured inside.

“I don’t know how this happened, this is how it was when we found it, empty.”

Sure enough the cell was empty, empty that is except for a single card that lay on the center of the floor.


	22. Standard Arc part 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is a bit late ^^; Had a long, tiring day at work.

Yuri situated himself in the corner of the couch and began tapping away at the Academia issue duel disk, hoping to figure out how it was supposed to tell them where a nexus point was.

Yugo was still asleep by the time he got back, as was everyone else it seemed.

Yuri frowned, he couldn’t find anything, it was set up the same as any other duel disk, and there were no other settings he could find, nothing to indicate tracking abilities of any kind. He snorted in disgust, had the asshole lied to him? That would be his luck wouldn’t it?

“What are you doing over there?” grumbled a sleepy Yugo, opening an eye. “You’re being noisy.”

“Yugo, it’s 10:30 at night.”

“So what?”

He sighed, “Go back to sleep then, you need it.”

Yugo groaned and sat up, his hair pushed in all sorts of odd angles. Yuri had to bite his tongue and look away so he didn’t bust out laughing.

“I’m already awake, there’s no point. I can never fall back asleep once I wake up.” He stretched his arms out with a yawn, “So what are you doing?”

“I was trying to find out how they were going to find this, nexus point.” Yuri sighed and set the duel disk down, “Either I’m missing something obvious or we were lied to.”

Yugo stood up and moved to sit down beside Yuri, holding his hands out expectantly. “Gimme,” he said when Yuri only stared at him. “The duel disk, lemme see.”

“What do you think you’re going to manage to do?”

Yugo shrugged, “I dunno, but it couldn’t hurt right?”

“Just don’t point it at me if you’re going to poke around,” said Yuri, dropping it in his hands. “I’d rather not have any accidents.”

“I’ll be careful,” huffed Yugo indignantly. “Don’t you trust me?”

“Not with things you don’t know how to use.”

“I built an entire motorcycle, twice, I think I can handle something like this.”

Yuri snorted, but watched in silence as Yugo began to examine the duel disk.

The house fell quiet again save for the soft beeping of the duel disk.

“Yugo,” began Yuri. “Have you ever had the feeling, that you’ve forgotten something? Something important?”

Yugo looked up and gave him a bemused look, “Yeah, but usually Rin comes around to bring me whatever I forgot. Why, you think you forgot something?”

Yuri shrugged, the lingering remnants of his dream clinging to his mind. “I don’t know, it’s probably nothing.”

 

Yuya sighed as he stared up at the sky.

“Yuto, when can we go home?” he asked. “Everyone’s probably worried about us by now.” He doubted that even Sora could explain their absence for this long. “And I’m getting bored. And I want to know what’s going on back home.”

Yuzu nodded, letting her arms hang over the railing they were both leaning on.

They’d all returned to the palace but Yuya was beginning to go stir crazy, on top of being worried about what was happening. The Obelisk Force had attacked their home, and he had no idea if anyone had been hurt.

“You two are probably fine to go back,” said Rin. “Him on the other hand,” she indicated to Yuto, who was sitting at the bottom of the stairs, head in his hands as he tried to deal with the onset of a killer headache. “I think he could use some rest, whatever went down here took a lot out of him.”

Neither Yuya nor Yuto had said anything about Yuto’s lapse of sense during their duel, not that they really now how to describe what had happened short of ‘Yuto got really angry and ruthless’.

“Can we at least go back so our families know we’re ok?” asked Yuya. “Mom’s probably worried sick.”

“Will you leaving make it quieter around here?” asked Yuto.

Yuya and Yuzu exchanged a glance.

“Probably.”

“Then go, but if you feel tired come back.” He waved them off with one hand.

Yuzu caught Yuya’s arm in one hand as he started to walk, “How are we going to get back? Yuto opened the portal that got us here last time.”

“I can help with that,” said Rin. “Come on, let’s give Yuto his quiet and do this somewhere else.”

Somewhere else of course meant outside, which is exactly where they found themselves. Rin had decided that now was as good a time as any for them to practice with some of their new abilities.

“Opening a portal is easy, just, visualize where you want to go, and concentrate the energy around you to a single point.” To emphasize her point, Rin opened up a portal behind her. “That should take me to the docks in Standard. The more you practice the easier it is. Give it a shot.” She closed it up before indicating or them to do the same.

Yuya looked at his hand, she made it sound so simple to do. “I just want to go home,” he sighed.

“Then think of home.”

Home, he hadn’t been gone much more than a day and already he was homesick and wanted to go back. He closed his eyes, thinking of home, of the docks at sunset, of dinner with his family, of dueling for fun with his friends. All things he wouldn’t be able to do if Academia did to Standard what they’d done to Heartland.

Opening his eyes he focused on the area above his hands, the energy in the air around him prickling his skin like tiny fingers.

Home, he wanted to go home, to take Yuzu home and see their parents again, to see their friends and make sure everyone was all right.

Then, the air began to twist and shimmer and something began to pulse and grow. Yuya’s eyes widened as he watched it grow in front of his hands. It got to the size of a beach ball before blinking out of existence.

“I-I almost had it,” he said. “Why did it vanish like that?”

“Just try again,” said Rin. “None of us got it right on the first try. You just have to keep focused. Eventually all you’ll have to do is think about where you want to go and you’ll open up a portal with no problem.”

Yuya wanted to ask why Rin couldn’t just send them home, it would be easier and faster than making them try doing it themselves.

“Would you be able to do this to get to the other dimensions?” he asked instead.

“In theory but we haven’t tried.”

“How come?” asked Yuzu. “I mean, wouldn’t you want to go home?”

She shook her head, “It would be, complicated, if any of us were to return home. You saw what happened when your friend Sora saw Yuri. People knew that we died, if we suddenly returned without any explanation it would be strange and difficult to explain. Now, why don’t you try again? This world is the best place to practice, because it’s saturated in Barian energy.”

 

Yugo had about as much luck as Yuri with the duel disk, until, after some repeated button pushing and swiping, he found himself on another screen.

“Uhh, Yuri, what’s this one?” he asked. The screen seemed to be a grid with several wavy lines that pulsed across it, none of them in synch.

Yuri leaned over and frowned, he’d never seen that one before. “No idea. Does anything happen if you tap it?”

Yugo tapped the screen and shook his head. “Nope. Maybe it’s a body monitor or something. You know, to make sure the wearer is alive and stuff.”

“No, that’s not it. I know all the functions on these things, even if I don’t use them. I’ve never seen this screen.”

“Then what do you think it does?” asked Yugo. “Looks pretty useless for tracking anything.”

Suddenly the lines began to move faster and grew closer together.

“What on earth?”

“We’re home!” Yuya exclaimed as he stepped though a portal and into his living room, followed shortly by Yuzu.

Yuri and Yugo sat up, looking over the back of the couch at him.

“Yuya?”

The sound of his name caught his attention and Yuya looked at them. “What are you doing in my house?” he asked finally.

“Are you even well enough to be back?” asked Yuri. “Yuto said you were almost drained of energy.”

“I feel fine,” said Yuya. “We both do. But again, what are you doing here? This is my house.”

“You mom invited us back here,” said Yugo with a grin. “She gave us stuff to eat and let us sleep here.”

“We couldn’t get away fast enough, there was no escaping.”

“So, she knows about you, about us?” asked Yuya.

“She knows that we’re from another dimension and that we know you,” said Yuri. “And that’s all we told her.” He leaned against the back of the couch, “And keep your voice down, I’m pretty sure she’s asleep, Sora too.”

Yuya felt his heart lift with excitement, they were ok they hadn’t gotten caught in the invasion and battles after all. “They’re ok,” he said, tears clinging to the corner of his eyes.

“Did anyone get hurt?” asked Yuzu.

“A few contestants,” said Yugo. “There were more of those Obelisk Force punks than we thought. They carded some people before we got to them though. Don’t know if they were anyone you knew. We’ve had a hectic last few hours. It was a mess.”

“Everyone’s fine,” came a sleepy voice from the doorway. "At least everyone you know."

“Sora!” A grin broke out across Yuya’s face when he saw his friend. He looked like he’d just woken up, rubbing his eyes sleepily and with serious bed head.

“Man, you guys talk a lot,” he said with a yawn. “How’s a guy supposed to get any sleep?”

“Sorry,” said Yuya with a weak smile. “I’m just glad you’re ok.”

Sora retuned the smile before walking over to Yuya and smacking him in the shoulder.

“Ow, what was that for?” he asked, rubbing his arm.

“Don’t ever make me lie for you like that again, got it?”

Yuya laughed, “Ok, I got it. But it’s not my fault, it’s not like I planned to have to leave.”

“Yeah I know. You doing better now?”

“I think so.”

“Good, because I think your mom’s going to want to see you,” said Sora. “And she’s probably going to have a lot of questions.” He looked over at Yuzu, “You too, your dad was pretty worried earlier when we couldn’t find you.”

“I can imagine, he worries about everything I do, especially after my accident,” she said.

Yugo and Yuri exchanged a confused look. “Accident?”

“The one that sent us to the Barian World,” said Yuya. “That should, probably explain why he worries so much.”

“I should probably go and see him, before he worries any more,” said Yuzu.

“Do you want me to walk you?” asked Yuya. “It is late.”

She laughed, “It’s ok. You should stay in case your mom wakes up.”

He deflated slightly but nodded, “Ok, but be careful.”

“Don’t worry, I will.”

Yuri watched the pair curiously until Yuzu left, a smirk tugging at his lips.

“So,” he asked, sprawling over the back of the couch, arms dangling over the edge. “How long have you two been dating?”

“We-what?” sputtered Yuya in embarrassment, his face turning as red as his hair. “We’re not dating, nothing like that, we’re just friends!”

“Uh-uh, that’s what they all say.”

“We’re not!”

Yuri smirked like a cat, the grin widening bit by bit, “Oh really? You two seem awfully close with each other.”

“Of course we do, we’ve known each other since we were kids,” he said. “Haven’t you ever had a friend like that?”

That brought Yuri to a stop as he fished about his brain for anything to say in response. A childhood friend, he couldn’t recall ever having one, which was odd because he also couldn’t recall ever having been quite that lonely.

“No,” he finally replied.

Yuya gaped, how could anyone never have a childhood friend? Rin and Yugo had known each other since they were kids, a fact Yugo had shared easily enough, and Yuto and Ruri had known each other almost as long.

“What about Selena?” asked Yugo.

“What about her?”

“Didn’t you two ever know one another?”

Yuri shook his head, “Not until recently. We’ve never met before.”

Yuya frowned, that just seemed, odd. Especially with how easily they did get along, even if it often consisted of long bouts of silence between them. “That’s surprising,” he sad. “And, kinda sad, that you never had any friends.”

Yuri just shrugged as he slipped back onto the couch. “It never bothered me,” he said. “So don’t let it bother you.”

“Besides, you have all of us now,” said Yugo with a grin as he hooked an arm around Yuri. “And you’re not getting rid of us that easily.”

“Unfortunately.”

Yuya laughed before speaking again, there was still a question unanswered. “How did you guys end up meeting my mom anyways?”

 

Yuzu stopped as she came to her house, drawing a deep, nervous breath as she looked at it. It wasn’t that she was worried about seeing him, but that she was worried about how he’d react to her being gone for over a day.

‘ _Here goes nothing_ ,’ she thought as she stepped inside. “Dad?”

“Yuzu?” The living room couch creaked and the sound of thumping feet greeted her in the hall. “Yuzu!” A bright smile spread across Shuzo’s tired face at the sight of his daughter. “You came home!”

“Of course I did,” she said with a smile. “Were you up waiting for me?” His clothing was nothing short of a rumpled mess and it looked like he’d not properly slept yet. He gave a weak laugh and rubbed the back of his head.

“I didn’t know when you’d be coming back, those friends of yours were rather vague on the details, and I wanted to be up when you got home.”

“Well I’m home now.”

He patted her head with one hand before pulling her into a bear hug. “That you are.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t say anything about leaving. It was sort of an unexpected trip.”

“I’m just glad you weren’t caught up in that, mess in the tournament. I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to you, again.”

“Well, Yuya was with me too, so I think I was in good hands.”

“Yuya hmm?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And for the record(even though it is brought up in the next chapter) Rin sent them home.


	23. Standard Arc part 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for two things.  
> 1) This chapter being late. I was out literally all day and couldn't upload it till I got back.
> 
> 2) This chapter being so short. I uh, didn't realize how short it was until I went to copy+paste it and realized I could have (and should have) mushed it into the previous one. >.>; To late now.
> 
> Consider it a breather chapter since, things happen in the next one.

Finding himself sitting between Yuri and Yugo, on his own couch, was a rather interesting experience for Yuya. He hadn’t even intended to do so, but they decided that if they were going to be made to talk then he was sitting down with them, and there was plenty of room on the couch, even if Yuri insisted at sitting on angle and purposely crowding the other two. The only thing he hadn’t done was to try stick his feet in their laps.

Sora had since gone back to bed, the conversation one he already knew the answer too and had nothing to contribute that Yuri and Yugo wouldn’t cover.

Taking turns, the two gave Yuya a run down of what had happened after they returned and how they unintentionally ran into his mother after the event proceedings. Yuya listened intently, though the idea that the Obelisk Force had come back was a bit unsettling to say the least.

“Do you think they’ll come back?” he asked.

“I wouldn’t doubt it,” said Yuri, “Especially if they’re searching this hard for this, nexus point. It’s clearly of importance to them.”

“I guess we should find it first then,” said Yuya.

“Good luck,” huffed Yugo. “We can’t figure out how. One of those guys said they could use this,” he held up the duel disk, “but there’s nothing on it for tracking anything. I mean, it has this screen but we don’t know what it means.” He indicated to the waving lines that still covered the display screen of the duel disk. “Even he doesn’t know what it is.”

Yuri huffed, folding his arms over his chest in mild annoyance. “So they upgraded since I’ve been gone. That isn’t my fault. And Yugo stop pressing buttons before you card yourself.” He sighed, “One of these days you’re going to do something irreversibly stupid.”

“All you calling me reckless?”

“Maybe, but mostly I’m calling you irresponsible.”

Yugo growled and Yuya quickly pressed himself back into the couch. “Ahh, could you guys not fight here, or right now?” he asked. “Please?”

“I’m not the one doing anything,” said Yuri. “Yuugo’s the one being threatening.”

“You’re antagonizing him.”

“I told you, it’s not Yuugo!” snapped the Synchro duelist, nearly leaping across Yuya to get to Yuri.

There was a thump from upstairs followed by ‘What is going on down there?’ as Yoko’s voice filled the house, silencing the bickering duo. A much quieter ‘I told you guys to shut up’ followed shortly after from the guest room.

“Now you’ve done it,” mumbled Yuya, sinking down as he hid his face in his hands. “You woke her up.” Sure enough the sound of footsteps could be heard coming down the stairs, followed by her irate voice.

“I may not be your mother but good grief boys what are you-Yuya?” As Yoko came into the living room to scold them for being so loud she caught sight of Yuya, still hidden behind his hands and trailed off.

“Hi mom,” he replied, lowering his hands. “I guess they got loud huh?”

For a moment she just stood there and stared, eyes locked on Yuya.

“Mom?” Yuya stood up and made his way towards her, soon finding himself trapped in he arms.

“Oh I’m so glad you’re ok. I was worried, when I saw those duels, I was worried something might have happened to you.” She pressed a hand into the back of his head, mussing his hair with her fingers affectionately.

“No, I wasn’t a part of that,” he said. ‘ _At least not in this dimension_ ,’ he thought, but he wasn’t about to tell her that, she was plenty worried as it was. “But I’m home now.”

“Yes, you are, and you’re going to tell me everything.”

“I-what? What everything?” he asked, looking up at her.

“Where you were, what you were doing. I’m your mother, I deserve to know, especially if it‘s dangerous.” She let go of him, putting her hands on her hips. “I can’t make your friends tell me anything because I’m not their mother, but you on the other hand…”

Yuya gulped, everything, that would mean having to tell her about the Barian World, and he wasn’t even sure where to begin with that, or how. Just the idea seemed ludicrous and unbelievable; he’d sound like he was crazy if he tried. But there was no way to tell her where he’d been or what was going on if he didn’t tell her about it. He glanced back at Yuri and Yugo for help, to see if they thought he should say anything, but they just shrugged, this was his problem to deal with, not theirs.

“Well uh, I mean I was with Yuzu.”

“I was aware of that,” said Yoko. “Sora told me. But, it seems he mislead me about where you were.”

Yuya rubbed the back of his head, “Yeah, please don’t be mad at him. We asked him to cover for us while we were, gone. It was sort of, spur of the moment.”

Yoko nodded again, “I thought as much, it’s not like you to miss out on something this big. So, you spent the whole time with Yuzu huh?”

Yuya nodded, running a nervous hand through his hair, and oblivious to the snickers from the couch behind him. “Yeah, well us and a couple friends.”

“Doing?”

“…Stuff?”

Yuri snickered behind his hand; clearly Yuya was trying to dance around the subject of being in the Barian World, and failing horribly. It was definitely amusing to watch, so he was going to let Yuya flounder a bit more, and then maybe he’d step in.

“You are mean,” said Yugo quietly.

“I don’t see you speaking up for him.”

“Does it really matter what I was doing?” asked Yuya. “We’re back and we’re safe. Isn’t that what’s important?”

“Yuya…”

“Mom! I just, I don’t think you’d believe me if I told you.”

She folded her arms over her chest with a smirk, “Yuya, I just leaned about the existence of other dimensions, and have two boys who look like you sitting on my couch. At this point, I’m willing to believe just about anything.”

“Promise you won’t freak out?”

“Yuya…”

“Please?”

She smiled, “Of course.”

He fidgeted nervously before looking over to Yuri and Yugo, who had finally managed to get their giggles under control. “I need one of you to help me,” he said.

“Why?” asked Yuri in an almost teasing manner. “Surely you can manage this on your own.”

Yuya scrunched up his face in annoyance before sighing, “Because Rin sent us home, I can’t open a portal on my own, and I need one.”

That caught Yuri’s attention and he tilted his head to one side slightly, making a ‘hmming’ sort of noise in the process. “You’re not planning on taking her through it are you?” he asked.

Yuya shook his head, “No, but I need one near me for this.”

Yuri sighed and sat up, “Oh I suppose, if you’re going to twist my arm about it.” He started to get up, but stopped when he heard a sound coming from the duel disk on Yuya’s wrist. It was beeping softly, a light on the screen flashing in synch with the beeps. “Oh Yuya, I think you’re wanted.”

Tapping the screen, Yuya frowned, as a face appeared to indicate who was contacting him. “Yuzu?” Worry knotted in his stomach, had something happened to her? “Yuzu what’s wrong?” he asked as soon as he answered the call.

“Nothing’s wrong but, it’s my bracelet. It started flashing.”


	24. Standard Arc part 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry for the lateness of this. I was editing and found a glaring problem with the duel that happens and uh, had to move things around and rewrite part of the duel so it actually, wasn't broken and followed the rules. Which took longer than expected.
> 
> And originally, they were going to have the thee trap combo that was used against Tsukikage, but I realized the third card, which doubled the effect damage, would screw over Yu2 here.  
> Also, keeping Yuzu from basically soloing the duel was hard, I needed to make one of Yuya's fusion dragons happen, but Yuzu kept wiping out the OF on her second turn. Her monsters are beastly.

The flashing had started shortly after she had arrived home and Yuzu worked quickly to keep it hidden under a hand. The last thing she wanted or needed was her dad to see it and start questioning it; she didn’t even know why it was doing that.

Luckily a reprieve had come her way in the form of Shuzo’s exhaustion finally catching up to him and no sooner had he sat down on the couch, than he fell asleep.

So as not to wake him, Yuzu slipped into another room to inspect her bracelet.

Sure enough, the pink gem in the center had begun to blink in regular, soft pulses.

At a loss for what to do about it, she did the only thing she could think of, she called Yuya.

She must have caught him in the middle of something, because he looked, for a moment, almost relieved about something, then alarmed when he realized who was calling.

“Yes,” she repeated with a nod, “Flashing, see?” she held her arm up to the screen so he could see. “What do you think it means?”

“I don’t know, I’ve never seen it do that before, have you?”

“Only once, back in the Barian World, when you were closing the rift,” she said. “It channeled everyone’s energy through you. This is different somehow, I know it is.”

“Do you want me to come over?” asked Yuya. “Or, do you want to come over here?”

Yuzu shook her head, “No, I’ll be fine. I’ll see if Ruri knows, maybe hers is doing the same thing.”

If Ruri’s was doing the same thing, Yuzu never found out as her calls went unanswered. Ruri had fallen back asleep against her brother’s arm, who had also fallen back asleep.

Yuzu sighed, well that had been a waste of time. She looked at the bracelet again, this pulsing was different from when she’d been in the Barian World; it reminded her of a beacon or radar.

“Does it want me to go somewhere?” she wondered.

 

Yuya had come to the same conclusion not long after Yuzu ended their conversation and, before anyone could stop him, grabbed the duel disk from Yugo’s hands and took off, despite his mother calling after him.

The pulsing waves on the screen seemed to move faster and closer together or slower and farther apart depending on where he ran.

Panting, he came to a stop as the lines pulsed together at a frightening speed. Looking up he could barely believe where he was, right out front of the LDS building.

 

Yuzu held her bracelet close as she navigated her way through the empty corridors of the LDS building. With her dad asleep she decided to go for a walk and see if the pulsing changed, and it did, going faster and faster until it held a near steady glow.

So when she found herself outside the doors to LDS’s dueling arena she was apprehensive about going in.

“ _Why would it lead me here?_ ” she wondered, trying to hide the glow with her hand so no one could see it. The last time she’d been there had been disastrous and she wasn’t keen on reliving those memories.

Taking a deep breath she reached for the door and went inside.

Yuzu shivered, the room felt so cold, colder than it probably should have been. Her breath formed a cloud in the chilly air and she wrapped her arms tightly around herself, wishing she’d worn a jacket.

‘ _There’s a light_ ,’ she thought, noticing it wasn’t as dark as it should have been for an unused duel arena at night, especially when the roof had been closed up.

‘ _But what’s making it?_ ’

Bracing herself she followed the light through the room right to the center.

“Crystals?”

A cluster of blue crystals stuck out of the ground and emanated a soft light from within. As she neared them, Yuzu couldn’t help but think that they looked familiar in some way. Extending a hand she bushed her fingertips across them and her bracelet flashed brightly in response.

“Yuzu!”

“Yuya?”

“How did I get in here?” he asked, looking around. “The last thing I remember I was out in the street and then my pendulum stated to glow and everything went white.”

Yuzu looked from the crystals and then to Yuya. “It must have been these, when I touched them.”

Yuya turned to look at the crystals and was struck by a sense of familiarity. “Yuzu, are these, Baria Crystals?”

“I don’t know, why would they be here of places if that were the case?” she asked. “I mean this is where we died, this is our dimension.”

“Wouldn’t someone have noticed them by now?” asked Yuya. “This is a duel arena, it’s going to be used all the time, right?”

Yuzu shook her head, “Can’t you feel how cold it is? I don’t think they’ve used this one for a while.”

“Ah what’s this? Seems we have some company here,” drawled a cold voice.

“What a pity, I was hoping we could make this fast,” came a second.

Instinctively, Yuzu raised her arm as she spun around, searching for the source of the voices.

“Who’s there?” she called, holding her ground. “Show yourself!”

Footsteps echoed through the empty arena as two figures strode into the blue light. Yuya hissed it was them again.

“I thought they were all gone,” he growled as two members of the Obelisk Force appeared. One bore a green gem in their mask, the other a red gem. “What do you want?”

“Originally those crystals, but it looks like we’re going to have to do some pest control now. Can’t have you scurrying off and telling someone about this.” They raised their arms in unison, the sword shaped blades materializing from their duel disks.

“Yuya, who are these people?” asked Yuzu, taking a step back.

“Yuto called them the Obelisk Force,” he replied. “They’re bad people, so be careful.”

Yuzu nodded as they activated their own duel disks. “A tag duel it is then,” she said, taking a spot beside Yuya. “I was here first, so I’ll start!” She shivered as she drew her card, breath forming clouds in the air. “I summon Aria, the Melodious Diva in attack mode, then since I have a monster and you don’t, I can summon Sonata the Melodious Diva through its own effect!” A lavender haired, female dancer materialized onto the field, a harp seemingly sticking out from her back. A second monster, this one blue-green in colouration with a musical note from her back appeared on the field beside her.

Yuzu looked at the remains of her hand and frowned. “I end my turn, and because you didn’t take an attack from Aria, I can deal 800 points of damage. Resonate Wave!”

The monster opened her mouth, as if singing, and a burst of sound waves rippled forth, striking the two members of the Obelisk Force and knocking them back.

“So it’s my turn,” said the green-gemmed soldier. “I fuse the two Antique Gear Hounds in my hand to summon Antique Gear Double Bite Hound Dog!”

 

_Mechanical Hunting dogs that inherit the ancient spirit!_

_Flock together and combine!_

_Resurrect with a new power!_

_Fusion Summon!_

_Come forth! Level 5!_

_Antique Gear Double Bite Hound Dog!_

 

A two headed, mechanical looking dog leapt onto the field, both heads snapping impatiently at the air as it growled.

“I set one card and end my turn with that.”

“It’s my turn!” announced Yuya. “With my Scale 4 Trump Witch and Scale 8 Entermate Odd-Eyes Unicorn, I set the Pendulum Scale!” The word PENDULUM in a rainbow of colours flashed across the blade of his duel disk as he set the cards down on opposite ends of the blade.

In the air above Yuya, the monsters appeared within columns of blue light. To his right a cartoonish looking monster in a blue patchwork dress and large blond pigtails; to his left was a mint green unicorn with a cotton candy pink mane and tail and red and green eyes. A larger version of the Pendulum he wore swung in the space between the two monsters.

“Pendulum scale?” The Obelisk Force duelists shared a confused look.

“With this, I can simultaneously summon monsters from Level 5 to 7!”

  
_Swing! Pendulum of Souls!_  
Draw an arc of light across the ether!  
Pendulum Summon!  
Come forth!  
My monsters!

 

A light flashed between the two pillars and shot towards the field as the pendulum around his neck glowed and flashed brightly as it swung back and forth.

“Appear! Wondrous and with beautiful dichromatic eyes! Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon! Pendulum Summon!”

The large dragon thundered onto the field in a storm of light, red and green eyes flashing as it roared, spiked tail snapping at the ground.

“I activate the trap Fusion Trench! With this, only Fusion monsters can wage battle. And what’s more, if the controller of a Fusion monster doesn’t summon any non fusion monsters in their turn, they can attack directly!” He smirked wickedly as a rift opened up in the floor, causing Yuya and Yuzu to jump back, and closer to the crystals.

Yuya sighed, there wasn’t much more he could do now, except keep the wall up, not with Fusion Trench on the field. “With that I end my turn.”

“So now it’s my turn,” said the red-gemmed soldier. “I also activate the spell Fusion, and fuse together the Antique Gear Hound in my hand with the Antique Gear Double Bite Hound Dog on the field!”

 

_Mechanical hounds who carry on the ancient spirits,_

_Flock together and become one with new power!_

_Fusion Summon!_

_Appear now! Level 7!_

_Antique Gear Triple Bite Hound Dog!_

 

An even larger, three headed machine dog leapt onto the field, howling a guttural cry that made Yuya shiver where he stood.

“I set two cards and end my turn.”

Yuya took another step back and bumped against the crystal, sending a shudder of cold rushing through him. How many of these fusion monsters did they have?

“Now it’s my turn!” A smile spread across Yuzu’s face when she saw the card she’d drawn. “If only fusion monsters can attack, then it’s a good thing I have some. I activate the spell card Fusion, and fuse together the Sonata on my field with Solo the Melodious Songstress in my hand!”

 

_Angel's song! Supreme genius!_

_With the guidance of the baton, gather your power!_

_Fusion Summon!_

_Now come here to the stage! Sing the song of victory!_

_Bloom Diva the Melodious Choir!_

 

A pink lotus flower appeared on the field in a flash of light. The petals burst open to reveal a demure, fairy-like monster in a blue dress with a large pink ribbon swirling around her.

“Now, attack his Triple Bite Hound!”

“Yuzu wait!” Yuya called out, had she not noticed that the Obelisk Force’s monster had more attack points than her monster? The Obelisk Force had, as they were laughing as the 1000 attack point monster charged the 1800 attack point monster.

“Don’t worry, Bloom Diva’s effect activates. If she fights a special summoned monster, she can’t be destroyed in battle, and they take the damage I would have taken! Now, Reflect Shout!”

Sound waves poured from the delicate looking monster’s mouth, causing the metal beast to shatter.

Yuzu opened her mouth to speak but they spoke up first.

“I activate my trap cards! Antique Gear Reborn and Antique Gear Spark!” The two previously face down cards flipped upright, revealing continuous traps. “Antique Gear Reborn can bring back any Antique Gear monster destroyed this turn, with 200 more attack points!”

Triple Bite leapt back to the field, now with 2000 attack points. “Antique Gear Spark Shot deals half of that attack as damage to you. So you take 1000 points of damage!”

Yuzu screamed, throwing her arms up protectively as the wave of effect damage washed over her, slicing their previously untouched life points down to 3000. Yuya felt his blood run cold at the sound of her scream; it was all too much like the last time they’d been in this arena. There may not have been an Action Field present, but the duel was definitely dangerous, the attacks were all too real, and briefly he wondered if it had to do with the crystals, just as it had been real in the Barian World.

“You can’t hope to win,” they laughed. “Just give up!”

Panting, she lowered her arms she faced them once again, her turn not yet over. Aria however was too weak to wage an attack against their monster. “Even if I can’t attack, you still take 800 points of damage from Aria’s effect.”

The effect rushed out once more, cutting their life down to 1600. “And because I didn’t summon any regular monsters this turn, Bloom Diva can attack you directly because of your own spell card’s effect!” The fairy monster shone as she unleashed a devastating attack on the Obelisk Force, dealing 1000 attack points in damage and bringing them down to 600 attack points.

“Now I end my turn.”

“If you thought was bad, you’re in for it,” laughed the other Obelisk duelist. I attack your Bloom Diva with Triple Bite Hound Dog!”

The hound barreled across the field, catching the gentle looking monster in its jaws.

“I activate De-Fusion!”

Bloom Pima glowed and vanished, splitting into the two material monsters used to make it, Solo the Melodious Songstress and Sonata the Melodious Diva.

She breathed a sigh of relief, that was too close.

“To bad that won’t save you, because my Triple Bite Hound Dog can attack up to three times in one turn, as long as it has targets. So now I attack your Solo and Sonata!”

The mechanical hound charged her and Yuzu’s eyes widened in surprise and fear as both of her monsters were destroyed in an instant, their life points only saved by the fact that her monsters had been in defence mode at the time.

“And I use the effect of Fusion Trench to attack you directly!” The hound screeched and barreled towards them, dealing a massive 2000-point hit to their life points.

Yuya felt his hands shake; this was no good he couldn’t attack. Odd-Eyes might have been strong enough to finish it but with Fusion Trench out it couldn’t attack. As it stood, their life points were at 1000, while Obelisk Force’s sat at 600. In any other situation it might have seemed like they had the advantage, except that they had monsters on the field that could attack, and the Obelisk Force did. One more attack and they would lose!

‘ _Think damnit think!_ ’ He clenched his eyes shut, backing into the crystals, the cool surface pressed against his skin. What was he supposed to do; he didn’t have any fusion monsters! He couldn’t lose another duel, not here, not like this!

‘ _Free me!_ ’

Yuya’s eyes flew open and immediately he looked around for the source of the voice. It didn’t sound like anyone he’d ever heard, it was deep and rumbling, and it certainly wasn’t from his opponents.

‘ _Release me so we can fight together!_ ’

The voice sounded like it was coming from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. He brought his hand down onto the crystal and for a moment he saw the silhouette of something in the back of his mind, a great beast. He looked back to his cards and the monsters on his field and he knew what to do.

“With my already set Pendulum scale I summon Entermate Drumming Kong!”

The large gorilla monster appeared from a beam of light and took to the field beside Odd-Eyes.

“Now, all the players have gathered! I activate Trump Witch’s Pendulum ability, allowing me to fuse together Entermate Drumming Kong and Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!”

 

_Chest-beating sage of the forest._

_Become one with the mysterious dragon to create a new power!_

_Fusion Summon! Come forth!_

_The ferocious dragon with luminous feral eyes!_

_Beast-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!_

 

A new monster roared to life as it stepped onto the field. It was similar in shape to Odd-Eyes though it bore a blue tail, and similarly blue spines that ran along its large horns. It roared and shook its head as it stared down the Obelisk Force and their lone monster.

Yuzu gaped, since when did Yuya have that monster? It wasn’t one she’d ever seen before. In fact, he’d never special summoned anything other than Pendulum Monsters, so when did he learn how to Fusion summon?

“Now that I have a fusion monster, I can attack. And what’s more, on top of that damage, you’ll also take damage equal to Drumming Kong’s attack. Now Beast Eyes, attack! Hell Dive Burst!”

First it attacked Triple Bite Hound, the shockwave from which knocked them back, and then it went in for the kill, landing a direct attack before their traps could activate their effects for the turn. The Obelisk Force was thrown across the room as their life hit zero.

So caught up in his duel, Yuya failed to notice the looks on the Obelisk Force’s faces, or the now shocked expression on Yuzu’s face.

“What kind of monster are you?” asked one of them, holding an arm in pain as he looked at Yuya.

“Let’s get out of here!” With that they vanished in a flash of blue light, dematerializing on the spot before anyone could say or do anything.

“Yuzu, are you alright?” asked Yuya, turning to his partner. “That looked like it hurt.”

“I’m fine, but Yuya, look at yourself!”

“Eh? What about me?”

A soft yelp came from the door way and Yuya turned to see the last person he’d expected to see standing there, his mother, hands covering her mouth in apparent shock.


	25. Standard Arc part 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which, Yoko makes a shocking discovery about Yuya!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now that I've finished watching Boeibu all day, have your Saturday update.
> 
> With this, there's one more chapter in the 'Standard Arc' and an interlude chapter, then we hit the 'Synchro Arc' and fall back to once a week updates.

Not long after Yuya took off out the door, Yoko followed after him, calling out to him in the hopes he would stop. Yuri and Yugo followed right behind her, deciding that they should probably try to help corral their counterpart.

He’d gotten quite away on his own, and they had nearly caught up to him, when he suddenly vanished in a flash of blue light, and the duel disk dropped to the ground.

“Yuya!”

They searched high and low, scouring the streets for any sign of what could have happened.

Yuri was certain that Yuya hadn’t accidentally carded himself, because there was no card at the scene and because it was a blue flash and not a purple one. He couldn’t however, be certain that Yuya hadn’t accidentally transported himself to another dimension. If that was the case, then who knew where he’d ended up.

“Maybe we should figure out where he was headed,” suggested Yugo, who pointed at the wavy lines on the screen. They had grown faster now and were more in synch with each other.

“Well he stopped here,” said Yuri, glancing up at the LDS building. “I don’t see what’s so special about it though? Isn’t it just a school?”

Yoko however had gone very quiet and very pale.

“Miss Yoko?” Yugo looked up at the woman. “Is something wrong.”

She shook her head, “It’s this place, nothing good comes from it. The last time Yuya was here…”

“His accident?”

She looked down at him, rather surprised at the comment “You know about that?”

Yugo shrugged, “He mentioned having been in an accident, Yuzu too. But he didn’t tell me more than that. I guess it happened here?”

They weren’t the only ones up it seemed, as not long after, Akaba Reiji appeared, looking very put off about something and muttering about ‘unauthorized duels’.

It wasn’t hard for Yoko to convince him to let her follow him inside; perhaps Yuya had ended up there somehow.

As they neared the large dueling court, the tell tale sounds of a duel could be heard, along with very familiar voices.

“Yuya!” Yoko broke into a run, pushing past a rather shocked Reiji and pulled the door open.

“That looked like it hurt.”

“I’m fine, but Yuya, look at yourself!”

“Eh? What about me?”

Yoko covered her mouth with a startled cry as her gaze her fell on her son, though if it hadn’t been for the voice she wouldn’t have know it was Yuya.

“Mom?”

 

He couldn’t understand it, why was she looking at him like that, like he was something to be afraid of? He looked back to Yuzu, who was equally as shocked, before looking down at himself.

His hands were red, a deep crimson red. Spinning around he caught sight of himself in a reflection on the crystals. Somehow, at some point, he’d shifted into his Barian form, and now everyone could see him. So, the crystals really were Baria Crystals then, that was the only explanation.

“Well, this is an interesting development,” mused Reiji, adjusting his glasses with the tip of a finger. “It seems there is more going on that I was led to believe.”

“Yuya?”

“Oh dear,” sighed Yuri, leaning against the doorway, folding his arms over his chest. “This is going to be a pain to explain isn’t it?”

“How did he do that?” asked Yugo. “I didn’t think it was possible to take that form in this world.”

“It shouldn’t be, there’s not enough Barian energy, but look behind him Yugo.” Yuri nodded, gesturing to a cluster of glowing blue crystals, which only served to give Yuya an even more eerie appearance. “I somehow doubt those are supposed to be there.”

“They aren’t,” said Reiji, arms folded over his chest. “They started appearing not to long ago, and no matter what we did we couldn’t remove them, they just came back.” He looked down at them with an accusatory glance, “It seems you two have some knowledge of this situation.”

“Yuya what’s going on?” asked Yoko as she made her way towards him. Yuya’s only response was to back away from her till he was backed into the crystals.

“Please, just leave,” he said, hiding his face with his hands. “I don’t want you to see me like this.”

“Yuya, please talk to me!”

“Stay away from me!”

Yoko hesitated, a hurt look on her face. “Yuya, why?”

He trembled as he sank to the ground, this couldn’t be happening, his mother couldn’t be there to see him like that. He didn’t want her to see him like that, to know what had happened to him. Hadn’t she been through enough?

“Sakaki Yuya!” The booming voice of Akaba Reiji sounded through the empty arena as he strode past Yoko and into the room. “What do you know of this situation?”

Yuya clenched his eyes shut, this was wrong, it was so wrong.

“I said stay away!”

There was a cracking sound followed by a rush of cool air through the room.

“Oh well done Yuya, you just made this even harder to explain,” drawled Yuri from the doorway.

Yuya lifted his head as his eyes flew open, what was Yuri talking about?

Yuri’s arms were folded across his chest as he fixed Yuya with a disappointed glare, while behind him Yugo was frantically checking himself, and Yuya could easily see why. All 4 of them had reverted into their Barian forms.

 

Ruri was jolted awake by a chill running down her spine and she wondered if she’d accidentally left the window open. It wouldn’t surprise her; she’d done that before. She straightened up, lifting her head from where it had burrowed into Shun’s shoulder as they sat on the edge of the bed.

Moving carefully, she maneuvered out from beside him and his comforting grip and stood up to go check the window.

As she reached the window she caught sight of her reflection in the glass and halted, why on earth did she look like that? She was on earth, not the Barian world, and there was no portal nearby, so why was she in her Barian form?

Stumbling backwards, she bolted from the room, the door slamming shut behind her. She needed to figure out what had happened.

“Ruri?” Sleepily, Shun opened his eyes, rubbing them with one hand “Ruri, is something wrong?” He looked around and frowned, the room was empty. “Ruri!”

Ruri’s heart pounded in her chest as she ran down the empty hall, she had to find out why this was happening, why she looked like this. This wasn’t supposed to happen, not in this world.

She flitted down the stairs, using the shadows and darkened hallways to hide herself so that no one else would see her like this.

This was supposed to be a secret, one that no one but the 8 of them, Shun, and Sora were supposed to know. But if she’d reverted had the others in Standard changed too?

She stopped as she passed a room and heard voices coming out of it. Some she recognized and others she didn’t.

“And what are you going to do with this information if we tell you?” asked Yuri, sounding quite plainly upset about something. “Weaponize it? I must say, Akaba Reiji, you really are like Akaba Leo.”

A tense silence filled the room before another male voice spoke, Reiji’s. “I don’t believe you’re in any position to be making demands from me.”

Yuri growled, and started to curse him out, only to be stopped by Yugo. “Who’s Akaba Leo?”

“Akaba Leo, most people from the Fusion dimension know him as The Professor, head of Academia,” said Yuri, voice laced with venom. “And you still haven’t answered my question, if we tell you what we know what are you going to do?”

Reiji sighed, “You are right. Depending on what this, other world holds, I would like to investigate it and see if it could be turned into something that could be used to our advantage. As it is, we do not know what Academia is up to and we need to be prepared for anything. They had a vested interest in those crystals and I would like to know why.”

“So a weapon then. You will turn that world, it’s power, into a weapon.” Yuri snorted. “Then I’m not telling you anything.”

“So you are content to have that _form_? If you allowed us to study it I’m sure we could find away to give your human form back.”

“It’s temporary,” said Yuri. “The energy Yuya released from the Crystals will fade eventually. Besides, I can choose how I wish to appear.”

From a crack in the door Ruri saw a momentary flash of pink light.

“How did you do that?” exclaimed Yuya.

“I simply thought about it. That pendulum of yours, it’s of a Baria crystal too, you should be able to revert back.”

Ruri looked down at her bracelet, so she could revert back on her own? Well it was worth a try.

A violet flash from outside the door silenced the talking. Yuri ripped the door open quickly and stopped. “Ruri?” He sighed, “Looks like we’re all here then. You might as well come in rather than hiding out in the hall.”

The inside of the boardroom was, chaotic, in a quiet way. A very Barian looking Yuya was seated on the floor near Reiji’s desk, head between his knees, while Yuzu comforted him. Yugo was still flailing around, as if trying to figure out how to turn back to normal. A blond haired woman was sitting quietly in a chair, hands gripping her knees as she looked at Yuya, while Reiji stood over at the window.

“What’s going on?” asked Ruri. “There was a wind, and then I found myself, well, like them.”

“We’re still not entirely sure,” said Yuri. “For some reason there was a cluster of Baria crystals in the LDS main court, and, from what we can tell, Yuya released their energy which reverted all of us.”

Ruri’s gaze flicked to the woman in the chair, who hadn’t said much. “And her?”

“Yuya’s mother.”

Oh, well that would explain a lot.

“I never wanted you to see me like this,” said Yuya, still hiding his gaze from his mother. “You weren’t supposed to know.”

“Are you going to tell me what’s going on?” she asked. “Please.”

“I don’t know how,” he said. “Not without upsetting you.”

“Should I just explain then?” asked Yuri. “Because someone has to tell her why half of us look like aliens.”

“I can see I’m not going to get anywhere with you,” said Reiji, adjusting his glasses before striding past them and towards the door. “I’ll leave you to talk.”

 

The door to the main control room slid open as Reiji strode in, before taking a seat in his chair.

“Have we gotten the reading back from that energy wave?” he asked, linking his fingers together under his chin.

“A-Akaba sir! Yes we got them back just now. The energy, we can’t pinpoint what it is, but it’s far more powerful and than kind of duel energy we’ve seen so far.”

He nodded thoughtfully. “I see.” When the Sakaki boy had grabbed the blue crystal, the entire thing had vanished and released the wave of energy, transforming several of them right before his eyes. He’d heard the words ‘Barian World’ and ‘Baria Crystal’ thrown about, but they seemed rather reluctant to talk to him about it and wouldn’t elaborate.

“This could be the key to our victory,” he mused. “But I need to understand it more.” He pressed a button the pad in front of him, bringing up the video feed of the room they were in. Perhaps if they wouldn’t tell him directly, they would tell Yoko Sakaki instead.

 

Yuri finally managed to get Yugo, Yuzu and Yuya back to normal, which seemed to calm Yuya down a bit, though he still could barely look at his mother and clutched his pendulum tightly in one hand.

“I’m sorry I didn’t say anything,” he said quietly. “I didn’t want you to worry.”

“Oh Yuya,” she said, “I’m your mother, it’s my job to worry about you. And not telling me anything makes me worry more.”

“And, I was worried you wouldn’t want me, seeing me, like that.”

“Yuya, you’re my son, I don’t care about that.” She enveloped him in a tight hug. “Honestly, you really are your father’s son, dramatic about everything.”

Yuya whined, pulling his goggles down over his face and burying his head into her chest. He felt embarrassed and didn’t want to look at her. Of course she wouldn’t mind she was his mother, why would she mind?

“What are you mumbling about?” asked Yugo, reaching over and poking Yuri in the side.

“Hmm?” Yuri lifted his head slightly as he reflexively swatted away Yugo’s hand. “I’m just thinking out loud.”

“About…?”

“LDS, Leo Duel School. Akaba Leo, Akaba Reiji, I certainly hope I shouldn’t have to spell this one out for you.”

“Are you saying he’s related to the guy who did, all of this?” asked Yugo.

“Yes. There’s no way it’s just a coincidence.”

Yoko sighed, “Akaba Leo was the founder of LDS,” she said, smoothing Yuya’s hair with one hand. “As well as the one of the creators of the Real Solid Vision system and Action Duels.” She looked down at Yuya; “He was also a friend of your father’s.”

Yuya looked up at her abruptly, pulling his goggles off his face. “They knew each other?”

She nodded, “More than that, they both worked together on the creation of the Solid Vision System and in making Action duels what they are now. They must have had a falling out though, you father never spoke too much about him after they finished.”

“Regardless, I don’t trust him,” said Yuri. “And I certainly don’t trust him not to turn the Barian World into a weapon.” He looked towards Yuya, “You’ve seen the power it holds. It’s bad enough that the Professor seems to have taken an interest in it, we don’t need him getting in our way too.”

“This all seems dangerous, are you sure you should be doing this?” asked Yoko.

“We don’t really have a choice,” said Yuya. “We have too, there’s people counting on us. Just trust us.”

She smiled, “I do, I just want you to come back to me.”

“Mom! Stop being so sappy, you’re embarrassing me!”

She grinned and hugged him tighter, “Isn’t that my job, to embarrass you in front of your friends?”

“I thought it was your job to worry?”

“A mother has many jobs, I can do both.”

Yuya whined as he tried to squirm free of her grip, much to the amusement of everyone else in the room. This was only made worse when a frantic Shun burst in, looking around for Ruri.


	26. Standard Arc part 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here it is, the last chapter of the 'Standard Arc'.  
> There will be an 'interlude chapter' on Saturday(did you want to know how the bracelet girls met their fates? Well I have good news for you, cause that's what'll be in that one. I opened the arc with the Yu boy's deaths, so I'm closing it with the girls.)  
> After that, I'll be taking a week hiatus/break(so I can write without worrying about updating, work is consuming so much time right now that finding writing time is hard), so the Synchro arc will launch on October 1st.
> 
> Ohh do I have things planned, yes I do.

Dennis sighed as he lay down; trying to keep his cover was exhausting work, that Akaba Reiji fellow was crafty and watching nearly everything. Getting somewhere that wasn’t being watched, especially during the tournament, was proving to be quite difficult.

Luckily for him, he’d been in this dimension for months undercover, so he already had plenty of unmonitored places to go.

He ran a gloved hand through his kinked red hair as he stared at the ceiling; he needed to report back his findings to the Professor. Sure, the Obelisk Force had failed in their job, and spectacularly at that, but he had still managed to gather some valuable information, pertaining specifically to the traitors Yuri and Sora Shiunin.

Dennis frowned, of all people to go rogue, he hadn’t expected Yuri to do so.

All anyone had known was that he’d gone missing on assignment. He’d hoped that meant Yuri had been captured; because of the two possible options it was arguably the better of the two. Instead it seemed he’d gone afoul of them and thrown his lot in with Xyz runaways. How disgusting.

And then there was the Professor’s son and what he was up to. He was certain that he would want to hear about that. And this Pendulum summoning, that was certainly news worth sharing.

Sitting up he began tapping away on his duel disk, skimming through the communication settings till he found what he needed.

“ _Voice pattern authentication required_ ,” said a cool, robotic voice.

“Macfield, Dennis.”

“Authentication confirmed. Please proceed.”

The authentication screen vanished and was replaced, for only a short while, by what could only be described as a loading screen. Then, after a few moments, it vanished, replaced by the face of a very stern looking man.

“Ah, Professor sir!” Dennis sat up a bit straighter.

“Macfield, I hope you’re reporting back to explain your colossal failure in the Standard dimension, and to give me good reason not to recall you for retraining,” growled the gruff and humourless voice on the other end.

Dennis tugged at his collar nervously, “Ah well about that, we ran into a few unexpected snags you see,” he said. “Namely, one Shiunin Sora and one Yuri.”

“Yuri?” The Professor raised an eyebrow in surprise. “He was there?”

Dennis nodded hastily. “O-oh yes, I was surprised as you are, and he even seemed to be aiding an Xyz fugitive. Would you like me to eliminate them for you?”

The Professor frowned and for a moment said nothing. “No, let them be for now, just keep an eye on them and let’s see how this plays out. We’ll deal with them when the time comes.”

Dennis hid his disappointment behind a smile; he’d hoped to get the go ahead so he could crush the traitors. “I also learned something else you might find to be a bit interesting,” he said. “It seems Akaba Reiji is putting together a team, he calls them ‘ _The Lancers_ ’ and it sounds like he intends to use them to fight you sir. And this dimension seems to have developed a new kinda of summoning method, they call it Pendulum Summoning.”

“Pendulum Summoning?”

The redhead nodded and held up a pair of Pendulum Cards he’d acquired during the tournament. “Yes sir. It seems to have been created by a Sakaki Yuya. You use special Pendulum Cards to set a Pendulum Scale and them summon as many monsters from your hand as you can between the levels of your scale. And they can go to your extra deck as well. It’s actually quite the fascinating summoning technique.”

The Professor brought his hands together in front of his face in thought as he studied the cards Dennis was holding; cards coloured half like a monster card and half like a spell card.

“Hold your position in Standard for now, until such a time that you can return. I would like to learn more about this Pendulum Summoning, it could become a valuable asset for us.”

“Of course sir.”

“And find out what you can about what my son intends to do with these Lancers of his, I don’t want any unexpected surprises.”

“Yes sir.”

The Professor reached forward and pressed a button just out of sight of the monitor and everything on the screen went black, leaving Dennis in utter silence in his room.

He dropped onto his back with a sigh, he would have loved to have just stayed and kept dueling, it was far to much fun, but rules are rules and if it was a rule from the Professor then it was absolute.

And even if the Professor hadn’t given him instructions, Akaba Reiji had called for all the Lancers to meet him the following day at LDS headquarters, though he didn’t know why or for what purpose. So either way, there was no time for him to goof off.

There was one other thing bothering him, something he hadn’t mentioned to the Professor on the off chance he was imagining it and his eyes playing tricks on him, which after a 24 hour round like that was quite possible. He could have sworn that during the closing ceremony when the remaining duelists had been brought out, himself included, that he’d seen Ruri Kurosaki among them. But that was impossible, she had died during the Xyz invasion, it was why Yuri had been called back. Perhaps it was nothing and just another person who looked like her; Yuri seemed to have his own lookalike after all; still though he was going to have to watch that.

 

As Dennis’ face vanished from the screen in front of him, Akaba Leo leaned back in his chair, fingers still knotted together. Yuri, Dennis had said he’d seen Yuri, but that wasn’t possible. Yuri was dead, he’d seen the card himself, the Obelisk Force had done the job and done it well.

Dennis had to be mistaken, if not, then there was another force at work, another far more powerful force. Perhaps whatever one had caused the Obelisk Force he’d sent through the portal to claim to have seen people on the other side. It was impossible, that world through the rift should have been devoid of life, yet the three of them swore they’d seen and dueled two strange figures.

For now he was content to see how things played out, if Dennis was mistaken then that was that. If not, then it would need to be looked into and dealt with accordingly.

Standing up he left his desk and the room. So, his son wished to wage war upon him with his own army did he? Leo sighed, he’d hoped to leave Standard out of this conflict as much as possible; it was his home after all. But desperate times called for desperate measures, and while he wasn’t desperate yet he wished to pin down that dimension so it couldn’t be a threat.

He stopped in front of a door, pausing only a moment before striding in without so much as knocking.

“P-professor!” stammered the surprised man working on the other side, looking up from his deck. “Can I help you with something?”

“I need you to find the Amazoness Twins, and send them to me. I have something I need to discuss with them.”

“I will fetch them right away!”

“Then, I need you to get in touch with our contact in the Synchro dimension. I need to speak with him right away.”

“Of course sir, right away. Is that all?”

“For now.”

Without another word he turned on his heel and left, it seemed he had a lot to prepare for now. Perhaps he should have swayed his son to his side all those years ago instead of just sending him home.

“So Yusho, it seems you were right after all, there was a fourth summoning type, and your son seems to have discovered it.”


	27. Interlude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we learn of how the girls met their end...

For Ruri it felt as if everything around her was moving at super speed while she was trapped moving impossibly slow, unable to do anything.

One moment her, Yuto, and Shun had been taking refuge in the remains of a building, hoping for a few minutes of rest. Then in the next they weren’t.

Ever since the invasion had begun, sleep had become almost non-existent; letting ones guard down for even a moment was a death sentence. When they did sleep it was in shifts, someone always keeping watch just in case. So a few moments respite for all of them was a godsend, a chance to breathe and stop running.

It didn’t last, it never did, as an Antique Gear Golem appeared, ripping the roof off the building and flushing them back into the streets.

The familiar screech of a Raid Raptor joined the throes as Shun held his ground, giving the pair a few moments to try and escape.

Everything fell into slow motion as Ruri looked back just in time to see her brother thrown through a window by the monster. Before she could even move, the wall of the building behind her exploded and she heard Yuto scream as rocks and cement and metal, rained down upon them, the entire side of the building coming down in a solid wave.

There was a flash of pain as something sharp seared through her side, her hands instinctively flying to he stomach as she fell, thrown off balanced by the blow. As she lay on the ground her hands brushed over the rapidly growing damp spot, coming away sticky as they reached something hard and metal. Summoning up what remained of her strength, Ruri turned her head to see a large piece of rebar in her peripheral vision.

Somewhere off to her left and out of her sight, she could hear Yuto screaming and yelling. Her head fell to the side as her hands fell away, blood pooling on the ground under her as she felt and heard no more, finally claimed by the sweet embrace of the reaper.

 

* * *

 

The D-Wheel revved its engine as it spend down the street, mud and water kicked up behind it as it sliced through puddles.

It was just supposed to be a simple raid, break into the underground garbage center and free the people that the City was holding there, using them as slaves to do the work no one else wanted to do.

Yugo was among them, having been sent there after his loss in the Friendship Cup. Friendship, hah, what a joke that name was, a twisted form of irony that wasn’t lost on the Commons.

Of course the key words there were ‘supposed to’. It had been anything but that and things went south fast. Someone had tripped an alarm, alerting the on duty Security to their presence and sending the group fleeing in every direction the moment they realized they were caught.

Unfortunately, this meant Rin had several members of Security’s Duel Runners hot on her tail and had been unable to shake them; no matter what she did they always seemed to be there, right at every curve and turn.

“Don’t they ever give up?” She kicked the D-Wheel into high gear again, tearing though a puddle as she whipped around a corner and further splattering the white vehicle with mud. “If I could just lose them…”

“Pull over, this is your last warning!” blared a voice from the Duel Runner tailing her.

Rin snorted, “Over my dead body.”

She hit another curve, tuning down a wet lane and flinging mud and small stones everywhere. Rin cursed, raising an arm to wipe the mud from her helm visor so she could see, the pelting rain made it hard enough to see through; she didn’t need to be adding mud to her vision problems.

Turning her head to look back she could see them, three members of Security only a few lengths behind her, the lights and sirens going on their D-Wheels.

“Try catching this!”

She sped down the rain-slicked streets, Security may have been fast, but she knew these roads like the back of her hand, and she knew the side roads and the back roads too. If she was going to lose them this would be the place to do so.

Suddenly, the D-Wheel began to act up, the wheels spinning uselessly and wobbling and fishtailing all over the place as she hit a slick patch in the road and lost control.

“Damnit not now!” She switched gears, turned, hit the breaks, everything to try and regain some moniker of control over her ride as the D-Wheel hydroplaned over the wet road. She ploughed through another puddle, blinding her as her vision became obscured by mud.

She cleared the mud from her visor in time to see another Security chaser pull in front of her, lights flashing.

“No! Get out of the way!” She screamed, but it was too late.

Tires squealed and the sickening sound of crunching metal and shattering glass filled the air, as Rin slammed right into the other D-Wheel at full cruising speed.

The last thing Rin was aware of was the feeling of air under her as the impact sent her flying.

When Security arrived they found a smoking, twisted metal wreck, all that remained of the two D-Wheels, and the bodies of Rin and the guard a few feet away.

 

* * *

 

All she wanted was a chance to prove herself, to prove to The Professor that she was as good as any of the other duelists there. After her last escape attempt however, he’d nearly doubled the guard on her, practically locking her in her room like some kind of prisoner.

It wasn’t fair, and didn’t make sense, no one else needed such a guard, everyone else could come and go freely. But Selena, she could barely go outside, let alone leave the island.

And yet there she found herself, gripping the edge of a furiously rocking boat for dear life, less than a hundred feet from the docks, though it might as well have been miles away.

It was by some miracle that there was no guard on her that night, she wasn’t sure if someone had forgotten or if they were changing over but she wasn’t going to question it and waste the opportunity.

Using the cover of night to aid in her escape and the hope that everyone would either be asleep or too tired to notice, she slipped through the halls with the silence of a cat and down to the docks.

The night had been quiet and calm, or at least it had seemed as such when she’d stepped outside and reached the docks.

But weather is fickle and nature cruel and the calm, peaceful weather changed on a dime; stinging winds whipped up and stirred the waves around her and the small boat, tossing it like a toy. A storm had been brewing and now she was caught in the middle of it.

The wind roared in her ears as Selena scrambled to get control of the boat, trying to turn it so she could ride out the waves.

A loud rumble filled the air, followed by an earth-shattering crack as lightning split the dark sky.

Another large wave crashed into the side of the boat and her hands slid from the wet wheel, sending the boat turning wildly and Selena stumbling backwards. Her foot hit a wet patch and she slipped, smacking her head on the side of the boat.

She grunted in pain as she put a hand to her head, staggering as she tried to stand back up in the violently rocking boat.

Another wave struck the boat, this time broadside and suddenly Selena found herself in the cold, inky black water of the bay. Flailing she made a grab for the boat, only to be yanked away by the choppy waves and something that wrapped around her ankle and tugged her down.

A rope from the boat had wrapped itself around her ankle and with each movement she made it only grew tighter and more tangled. She barely had time to gasp before the frigid water closed over her head and she was plunged into the inky depths.

She tried to swim to the surface, but between the growing pain in her skull and the rope around her foot it was slowly becoming next to impossible.

The surface seemed to drift farther and farther away as she sank and her air supply began to dwindle. Slowly her movements lessened as she gave up struggling against her bindings; perhaps this was some kind of divine punishment for disobeying The Professor.

Her lungs burned, screaming for air and she furiously covered her mouth to keep from opening it and inhaling the salty water around her.

What little vision she had left began to blur and swim as the darkness closed in around her head.

She gasped and cold water flooded her nose and mouth as everything slipped away.

The boat was found washed on the shore sometime the next morning, battered relentlessly by the storm and Selena tangled in the anchor line.

 

* * *

 

Ayu and Tatsuya whimpered in fear as they clung to Yuzu, who held them back from the edge of the tilting structure.

“Big-sis Yuzu I’m scared,” cried Ayu, clinging to her skirt.

What had started of as a regular duel quickly turned into anything but as Yuzu and the kids found themselves trapped atop a tower, built into the bridge in the Action field. A bridge that was beginning to fall apart from repeated attacks from the monsters below.

“Yuya! Get up!” Yuzu screamed, hoping in vain her voice would reach her downed friend. The last hit had slammed him full force into the foundation of the bridge and he was taking an unusually long time to get back on his feet. It was Solid Vision, it wasn’t supposed to hurt that much.

“Yuya please, hurry!” The building pitched forward again and Yuzu pulled the kids closer. “I can’t hold on much longer!”

“Yuzu!” Ayu screamed as she slipped out of Yuzu’s grip and out the open window.

 

Crack!

 

Something down below split loudly and the entire building went down and Yuzu felt herself falling, losing her grip on Tatsuya and Futoshi as well.

A blur sped past where Yuzu clung to the wall as one of Yuya’s magicians flew up, grabbing Tatsuya and Futoshi from mid air. A second blur grabbed Ayu, joining the second magician as they searched for a safe place to set the kids, somewhere far away from the mayhem and destruction.

They were too far away to do anything when the rock Yuzu was clinging to broke away, crumbling under her fingers and she found herself falling backwards.

Falling, falling, falling.

Yuzu screamed.

 

“Please, not my baby girl, I can’t lose her too. Not her.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Coming October 1st, we enter, the Synchro Dimension!
> 
> Yup, I'm taking a week hiatus so there won't be an update next week. 
> 
> Onto other things. I want to give a huge thanks to everyone! I never expected my goofy, off the cuff idea of wanting to draw the Yu boys Barians, would flesh out into a huge, multi chapter fic with a word count of nearly 80k(at the time of writing this), and that people would actually read it. And like it. So just, thank you. You guys are awesome.


	28. Synchro Arc part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we head out for the Synchro dimension at long last.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And with this, I resume my once a week, Saturday updates :D  
> Synchro dimension is a go!
> 
> Also if the first bit looks familiar, it's because it came from a teaser thing I posted on tumblr-I had made a teaser of mentioning Sora's accidental implication of Yuya and Yuzu dating. Which lead to a request for teasers/samples on reactions, one of which being Yuya and Yuzu's reaction to learning about this. I wrote something for it and ultimately decided to include it in and decided to put it here.

“You’ve been getting them too huh?” asked Yuya, hands folded behind his head.

Yuzu nodded, “And my dad’s been acting strange too. Well, stranger than usual. And he keeps smiling when ever I mention you.”

“Him too huh?” Yuya had definitely noticed his mother asking more about Yuzu and him, once everything had calmed down and she had the chance to ask. It was weird to say the least.

Sora coughed awkwardly and quickly attempted to stuff the remains of his candy into his mouth. Perhaps if he kept the candy in his mouth they wouldn’t ask him anything and he’d be spared that conversation.

“Do you know something Sora?” asked Yuya, casting him a sideways glance.

“Nuh-uh.”

“Sora?”

“Ah know nufink!” he protested through a mouth full of sucker. They didn’t buy it, eyeing him almost suspiciously as they rounded on him, moving from beside to in front.

“Sora, what’s going on?” asked Yuzu, hands on her hips. “What aren’t you telling us?”

Sora laughed awkwardly as he popped the candy from his mouth. “Funny story actually. See uh, remember how I had to cover for you guys during the tournament?” They nodded, of course they remembered. “Well uh, I might have, kinda, given the wrong impression when I tried to explain why you weren’t there.”

Yuzu narrowed her eyes, “What kind of wrong impression?”

“I might have, accidentally, led them to think, thatyouguysaredating!” The last part of the sentence rushed out all at once.

It took a moment to fully process what he’d said, but when it did their faces were as red as Yuya’s hair. Yuya could only manage to sputter out ‘what?’ over and over, while Yuzu couldn’t even manage that, staring at Sora in silent disbelief.

“You WHAT‽”

“Don’t kill me!” he screeched, throwing his arms in the air as he started to run. “I have places to be today!”

It was true, with the confusion of the last day finally calming down; Akaba Reiji had specifically called for all of the Lancers to meet with him at LDS later that afternoon, which of course included Sora.

“And I thought it was bad enough dealing with Yuri teasing me,” groaned Yuya.

“I didn’t mean to! You put me on the spot, what was I supposed to say?” asked Sora, “That’s why I told you, don’t make me cover for you like that again. So really it’s your own fault.”

He yelped as Yuya caught him in a playful headlock, “Oh really, is it now?”

“H-hey, let go, let go! I said I was sorry! Yuzu help me! He’s being mean!”

“No I’m not,” protested Yuya. “You’re the one spreading rumours.”

“I did not. I never actually said you were dating, they came up with that on their own.” He squirmed and wiggled in Yuya’s grip before finally slipping out. “And what do you expect them to think, what with the two of you disappearing off alone all the time? Besides, there are worse things they could think you’re off doing.”

“You know, Yuto’s going to want to know about those Baria crystals,” said Yuzu. “Maybe he can help us figure out why they were in this world.”

“Not to mention you’re the only two who saw the darn things,” said Sora. “Well, the only two who can go back to the Barian World anyways.”

Yuri and Yugo, being Lancers, also had to show up at this meeting, as did Ruri, so none of them could tell Yuto about what had gone down.

“I hope so,” said Yuya. Baria crystals on earth, in the Standard dimension, that was beyond weird. “But how are we getting back, we don’t have time to ask anyone for a portal.”

Yuzu smiled, “Le me try, I think I can manage one for us.”

“Are you sure?” asked Yuya.

Of the two of them Yuzu had been far more proficient at getting the hang of opening a portal, however that had been in the Barian World where energy was abundant, not earth.

“Of course I am,” she said.

“I hope you’re not expecting me to try and cover for you this time,” said Sora. “Because as far as I’m concerned, I don’t know where you’re headed.”

“Don’t worry, we shouldn’t be long. Besides, don’t _you_ have somewhere to be?” said Yuya.

Sora’s eyes widened and he took off like a shot; if he hung around any longer he was going to be late.

“So, about that portal?”

 

It took Yuzu several attempts, but in the end she did manage to open one up and keep it open long enough for them to get through. Where they ended up was not quite where Yuzu had hoped however.

“We’re at the ocean,” remarked Yuya as the portal closed behind them.

“I was aiming for the palace.” She said with a downcast sigh.

“I guess we’re walking then, unless you think you can manage to teleport back.”

She shook her head, “Not yet, I’ll just walk.”

 

The room Reiji had gathered everyone in reminded one of a conference room, except with fewer tables and a staircase to the floor above.

Yuri had to mask his disgust when he saw Dennis there, cheerful as ever and as if their previous meeting had never occurred. Shun was less obvious about his displeasure, though Yuri had to wonder if he ever smiled-Ruri claimed he did, but so far Yuri hadn’t seen any evidence of this.

Sora was understandably fidgety and nervous, as Dennis as had purposely chosen to stand near him, as if to rub in farther the fact that Sora couldn’t say or do anything about it.

Yugo was less nervous, if only because Rin was there. Sometime before the meeting, Ruri and Rin had switched places, Ruri offering to go back and inform Yuto about what was going on and having Rin take he place. With their similar faces they hoped that no one would notice the switch. So far only those that knew them had actually noticed there was something different.

“So what are we even doing here?” asked Sawatari loudly, arms folded over his chest. “He calls us out here and doesn’t even bother to show up.”

“Perhaps if you had more patience,” Reiji’s voice came from the top of the stairs and moments later he descended, followed closely by a child, probably no more than 7 years of age.

“I still think we’re owed an explanation as for what we’re doing here,” said Yugo. “You called us all out here but didn’t say why.”

“That I did,” he said with a nod. “As you are all aware, we have fallen under attack by another dimension. Of course, it is not the only one out there,” his gaze momentarily flicked over to Yugo and Shun before returning to the rest of the group. “The dimension in question that attacked was the Fusion Dimension. They have already invaded one dimension, the Xyz dimension.”

Shun bristled at the mention of his home but said nothing.

“Does that mean there’s a Synchro dimension too?” asked Sawatari.

The tiniest of smirks graced Reiji’s lips. “Precisely, and that is where we are going to find our allies.”

Yugo perked up at the mention of his home, they were heading to Synchro? This was either going to end well or very, very badly for everyone involved.

“Through some, generous help, we have analyzed the technology used to travel between dimensions to create our own.”

Shun snorted, “More like you stole my duel disk.”

Reiji didn’t acknowledge the comment and continued talking. “You all have been outfitted with our latest upgrade to the duel disk, Cross Over. As well as a special field Spell of the same name. The enemy uses Real Solid Vision without the aid of an Action Field, likewise we should do the same if we have any hope of staying on equal ground with them.”

So that explained why they’d been given new duel disks and a preloaded Field Spell when they got there. Yuri wasn’t sure he liked the new duel disk, it felt strange on his arm and the shape was not what he was used to, but as long as he could use his own deck he wasn’t going to complain.

Dennis made a rather surprised sound at the mention of dimension travel and Yuri couldn’t tell if he was faking or was genuinely surprised that they’d developed the technology so quickly.

“So when are we leaving for the Synchro dimension?” asked Yuri, ignoring the clown in the room.

“Now, as a matter of fact. The eleven of us will depart immediately.”

“Eleven, there’s only ten Lancers here,” piped up Sawatari.

Reiji gestured to the timid looking child at his side. “He will be joining us on our trip.”

Shun hissed his disproval at the idea. “He’s just a child, you can’t possibly be dragging him into this.”

“Reira finished at the top of the Youth class in the Championship, he is more than equipped to handle this.”

Shun didn’t even make an attempt to hide his disgust.

“So, did we just get drafted?” asked Yugo, turning to Yuri. “I feel like I just got in way over my head, more than usual.”

“We did,” said Yuri. “I’ve gone from being a soldier of Academia to being a solder of Standard.”

“If everything is in order, then let us depart,” said Reiji as the screens on their duel disks changed, ready for transport.

As the dimensional transport was activated, the group vanished in flashes of light, leaving the room entirely empty.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No, before you ask, I didn't miscount, there's 11 Lancers here, Tsukikage and Gongenzaka are just off to the side being quiet so they didn't get mentioned.   
> Reiji, Reira, Tsukikage, Gongenzaka, Sawatari, Dennis, Shun, Sora, Rin, Yugo, Yuri. 11


	29. Synchro Arc part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so everyone lands in the Synchro dimension.
> 
> The chapter is kinda short, but I wanted to make the landing all one chapter(so I couldn't merge it in with the one before or after) before they start, adventuring though it.

When the light faded and he could finally see, Yuri looked around and discovered that he was alone, all alone, and on top of a hill to boot. Well, he certainly wasn’t in Standard, if the many, many laneways he could see and tall, sky-reaching buildings were any indication. Nor was he in Fusion, as he didn’t recognize the place at all, or the Xyz dimension, the place wasn’t a desolate wasteland. So he was definitely in the Synchro dimension, alone. At least he had a nice view of the place, and it seemed peaceful enough.

‘ _Clearly he forgot to program in a way to keep us together_ ,’ he thought, looking down at the duel disk. ‘ _What a pain, now I need to figure out where I am, and where everyone else is._ ’ Or at least where Yugo and Rin were, he wasn’t nearly as concerned with the rest of the Lancers, though finding them at some point would probably be a good idea as well. Everyone split up in a strange dimension just screamed bad idea.

He looked around the area, taking in the rest of his surroundings.

The lawns were well manicured and taken care of, and even the buildings looked exquisite, reaching into the sky like mountains. From his vantage point he could make out people milling about on the streets below, their voices faintly filtering up through the air. All in all it seemed to him to be a fairly peaceful dimension. Perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad after all.

Hadn’t Yugo mentioned something about Tops and Commons? Well, he’d deal with that later. Standing up he brushed himself off and decided to start walking, perhaps he’d find something to help him figure out where he was.

 

Yugo shook his head as the light faded and the familiar smell of grease and oil and sounds of his dimension filled his nose and ears. They had definitely made it to the Synchro dimension, and somewhere in the Commons section of the City it seemed, he would know those smells anywhere.

Dingy, run down buildings sprawled out all around him, a stark contrast to the many roads and like-new buildings above them, looming almost menacingly. So, they were definitely in the more run down section of the Commons sector.

“Well at least it worked,” he said as he looked around before tuning to Rin. “I still can’t believe we’re home though.”

Rin nodded, “Yeah, but I think he forgot to make sure we stayed together,” she said. “We’re short a few people. How are we supposed to find new allies when we can’t even keep track of our own current allies?”

“Guys!” Sora’s voice spoke up from behind Yugo, sounding a bit frantic. “What do I do?” The small child from before, Reira, trembled fearfully as he clung to one of Sora’s arms. In his other hand was clutched a small, patchwork teddy bear. The only words he seemed to be repeating were ‘big brother’, presumably talking about Reiji. “I don’t know anything about little kids.”

Her gaze softened and she sighed. “Well, that just made things more complicated didn’t it? I hope everyone else is faring better,” said Rin. “Come on, let’s get him calmed down. Then we should get moving before someone sees us that isn’t supposed to. We can work on finding everyone else after that.”

 

Getting sent to an unfamiliar dimension was bad, being stuck in an unfamiliar dimension with people you barely knew was worse, and being stuck in an unfamiliar dimension with someone you loathed on top of all of that was possibly one of the worst situations that Shun could think of to be in. So of course, the first voice he heard upon landing in the Synchro Dimension and regaining his bearings had to belong to Dennis, the last voice he wanted to hear.

“I think we lost a few people on the way in,” said Dennis. “I hope they’re ok.”

“Where are we?” asked Sawatari, wrinkling his nose. “This place looks like a dump. And it doesn’t smell any better either.”

That would be his luck wouldn’t it, stuck with this lot, the fusion scum, the loudmouthed brat and the silent wall. The only upside was that he could keep an eye on one of the Fusion users, but the other two, who knew where they were and what trouble they were getting into, and that worried him, regardless of the allegiances they claimed.

“Let’s just get moving,” he said, choosing to ignore Dennis. “Or I’ll leave you behind.” At least Gongenzaka was quiet company that he could put up with, he wasn’t so sure about the other two. And may be he could keep the other two in line.

“Aww, you’re so mean Kurosaki,” teased Dennis.

“Don’t talk to me,” he growled.

Dennis’ only response was to grin and fall in line behind Shun and beside Sawatari as they stated walking, though none of them had any idea where they were going.

 

The Lancer’s arrival in the dimension had not gone as unnoticed as they had hoped, despite ending up scattered throughout The City.

In the heart of the city, in the Security Headquarters, the computers were buzzing with excitement as strange new readings flooded their screens.

“Sir, sir you you’ll want to come look at this!” called a tech, looking up from the computer screen in front of them. “We’ve picked up some, unusual readings all throughout the city.”

“Oh, unusual how?” A tall man with white-blond hair and dressed in a violet jacket strode over to the monitors, fingers gliding over the smooth tabletop.

“Well they’re-they’re dimensional anomalies,” said the tech hesitantly. “Almost half a dozen of them, all around the city.”

“We’re getting confirmation on the readings now,” said someone from across the room. “These anomalous readings are distortions in the energy of the dimensional field. Someone has entered this dimension sir. Multiple people in fact, all around the city. Sir, are we, being invaded?”

“Is that so?” He straightened up. “Well then, why don’t we give these, visitors, a proper greeting to the City? Mobilize Security and send them out to the locations of the anomalies. Round up our ‘guests’ and have them brought to me. I would quite like to meet these visitors to our dimension.”

“Yes sir, sending orders and locations to all nearby Security Runners now.”

“I wasn’t told about any guests from home, so it seems we have some unexpected visitors,” he mused, hands folded behind his back as he walked over to the large glass window. “I wonder who you are, and what it is you want in my city.”


	30. Synchro Arc part 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because it's not a Synchro arc unless everyone's split to the four winds. And having trouble.
> 
> And a familiar face turns up, whoop!

It seemed to Shun, that Dennis was intentionally trying to piss him off, to get under his skin with everything he said and did. After all, Shun could hardly lash out, no one else found him irritating and his hatred of him would be completely irrational as far as they were concerned.

He just wouldn’t stop talking and commenting on everything around them, and Gongenzaka and Sawatari seemed to be happily entertaining his conversation and trying (and failing) to bring Shun into it.

“We have to find everyone else,” he said.

“Maybe we should ask around?” suggested Dennis, “See if anyone’s seen them. We all do stick out you know.”

Shun clenched his teeth, he hated that Dennis was right, they did stick out like a sore thumb, especially the uniforms that several of them wore.

“Do you ever stop?” he asked, shooting Dennis a glare over his shoulder.

“He makes a good point though,” said Sawatari. “We’re not about to find anyone walking like this. We should find whoever is in charge. This is a city right? There’s got to be a mayor or something. Maybe they could help.”

Shun hesitated, that was a surprisingly useful suggestion coming from Sawatari. Of course, given how run down the section of the city they were in was, it was doubtful any form of mayor would be found there, so they’d have to keep walking.

 

Yuri sighed as he sat down on a bench; if he had to be stuck in another dimension at least he was stuck in a place that looked nice.

‘ _I suppose I should give Yugo a call and figure out where he is,_ ’ he thought, looking down at his wrist. ‘ _And where I am._ ’

It took several attempts for him to get through to Yugo, the first couple met with nothing but static.

“Ah, you did make it here in once piece,” said Yuri when Yugo’s face finally appeared on the screen. “And not alone.” Just behind him he could make out Rin and Sora, who seemed to be talking to a third party, though he couldn’t see whom it was. “Lucky you.” He stood up as he spoke and turned the disk around so Yugo could see the area he was in, “Any idea where I am?”

“Yuri, get out of there now.” Yugo’s tone was unusually short and clipped and he looked, worried.

“Eh? How come?” asked Yuri. “This is place is nice.”

“That’s because you ended up in the Tops section of the City. Yuri you need to get tout of there, before you’re caught.”

“Caught by whom?”

“Anyone, as far as the Tops will be concerned, you’re a Common and you’re trespassing. You’ll be arrested for that, and you don’t have a D-Wheel to get away on.”

Yuri frowned, “How would they know that? I could be a Top as far as they know.”

Yugo snorted, “You may have the attitude to blend in, but you’re wearing a duel disk, 99% of the duelists in the City are Commons. And you don’t have any way to prove that you’re Top. Yuri, just get out of there, and try to keep your head down so you don’t draw attention to yourself.”

“Arrest?” Yuri raised an eyebrow, “Isn’t that a bit excessive?”

“You’ll be lucky if that’s all that happens,” chimed in Rin. “He’s telling the truth, get out of there Yuri. Get yourself down to the Commons section.”

“And how do I do that?”

“Like I said, get down here now.”

Yuri clicked his tongue in annoyance as Yugo and Rin faded from his screen, that had only been lightly helpful. So he had to leave did he? To bad, it was nice there and he would have liked to stay. But they sounded pretty insistent that he get out of there before he got into trouble.

‘ _Is it really that bad?_ ’ he wondered, making his way down the hill, hands tucked into his pockets.

Unfortunately, he had been noticed already by the locals, who were giving him a wide berth, whispering and pointing all the while.

 

Yugo lowered his arm as Yuri faded from his screen, of course Yuri would end up in the Tops section of the City. He hoped that Yuri would get out of there before he was noticed, as without a D-Wheel he had no hopes of escaping should he find himself with Security on his tail.

“Should we go look for him?” he asked, turning to Rin, who was tying to help Sora figure out what to do with Reira.

She shook her head, “We can’t risk all of us getting caught,” she said. “Besides, do you really want to drag him into this?” She indicated to Reira. “I don’t, he’s scared enough as it is.” Rin shook her head in disgust, “I can’t believe he thought it was a good idea to bring a child along. I don’t care how good a duelist he is, he’s a kid, and a war is no place for a kid.”

“And it’s any place for us?”

“No, but I’ll take his place any day.” She put a reassuring hand on Reira’s shoulder and offered a soft smile, “Don’t worry, we’ll find your brother, I promise.”

He looked up at her and Rin felt her stomach drop at the sight of his wide, fearful blue eyes. This poor child, what had he been through?

Reira clung tightly to Sora as they walked, gaze trained on Rin. She was so kind to him, and without asking or demanding anything in return. He hoped she could keep her word and find his brother.

“So where are we?” asked Sora, having resigned himself to being unable to use his right arm for the time being.

“The lower end of the city,” explained Rin. “Actually, I think we’re not to far from where Yugo and I grew up.”

“You lived near each other?” asked Sora.

“The same orphanage,” replied Yugo.

That silenced Sora, the fusion duelist quickly biting his tongue.

“I guess that’s one thing we have in common then,” he said after a moment. “No family.”

They hadn’t gotten too far down the road when the revving of engines sounded in the distance.

“Someone’s coming, quick hide!” hissed Rin, grabbing Yugo and dragging him off to the side.

“Why, is it trouble?” asked Sora as he followed her, Reira doing everything he could to keep up.

She shook her head, “I don’t know, it could be. If it’s Security we could be in for a lot of trouble. And even if it isn’t them, it could be a gang.”

“Man, seems like you came from a rough place,” mumbled Sora.

“That’s just the tip of it.” She raised a hand to her lips and indicated for them to be quiet as they ducked into the alley and behind heaps of boxes and trash.

Soon enough the sound of several motors roared down the street in their direction.

Reira whimpered and clung even tighter to Sora, as the sounds grew closer.

Rin craned her neck for a better look at who was coming, was it Security or someone else? Her eyes widened as the D-Wheels neared them. Even with their visors on she recognized their rides, especially the one in the lead with it’s striking gold and blue colour scheme.

“Shinji!”

She let go of Yugo’s hand as she bounded towards the street, momentarily lost in her excitement at seeing a familiar face.

The lead D-Wheel slowed as the driver caught sight of Rin, who stood at the edge of the road.

“They can help us!” she said, looking back at Yugo, who didn’t look nearly as enthusiastic about the situation as she did.

The lead rider held up his hand, indicating for the rest of the small group to stop as well, before turning his attention to Rin.

“Oh, _that_ Shinji,” muttered Yugo as the rider, and duelist, took off his helmet to reveal the face of the rider beneath it. He was a young man with two-toned blue hair and sharp green eyes.

“I didn’t think we were ever going to find a friendly face,” said Rin, running to greet him. She stopped shot, her smile faltering when she saw the stern, disapproving look on his face as he stared her down. “Shinji?”

 

Perhaps leaving the group with Dennis wasn’t the smartest idea, but there was only so much of Dennis that Shun could take, and he was at his limit.

“Stay here and I’ll scout ahead,” he’d said. He just hoped they would listen and stay in one place; Sawatari especially, the boy practically needed a leash and a muzzle.

Going on ahead in a dimension he was unfamiliar with was also not among the brightest ideas he’d ever had, let alone gone through with.

Shun had no idea where he was as he looked between the buildings and walls. Everything looked the same to him; he couldn’t tell one house from another and was beginning to wonder if he’d been going in circles for the last few minutes.

It would explain the soft giggles he’d been hearing from somewhere behind him, someone was taking great amusement in the fact that he was hopelessly lost.

He hadn’t given his hidden watchers the pleasure of knowing that he knew they were there, instead opting to pretend he didn’t hear them.

With an annoyed grunt he turned and started back down the road, hands stuffed in his pockets.

The giggling stated again as several kids whipped past him, laughing as they chased each other down the road. He was about to relax and chock it up his paranoid imagination, when a third kid bumped into him as they ran past.

The boy didn’t get more than a few steps past him when Shun’s hand flew out and grabbed his wrist.

“That is not yours,” he said firmly.

The boy’s purple-blue eyes widened and he began to squirm and wiggle in Shun’s grip, his tiny hand still curled tightly around something. “Amanda, Tanner, run!” he called to the other two, who had stopped to look back when they realized he wasn’t there.

Without needing to be told twice, the girl grabbed the smaller boy’s hand and took off down the road.

“We’ll get Crow!” she called.

Crow? Shun wondered who or what a ‘crow’ was, because surely they weren’t talking about an actual bird.

“I didn’t mean it I’m sorry,” protested the boy, whose wrist was still in Shun’s grip. “Please don’t turn me over to Security. I won’t do it again I swear.”

The boy couldn’t have been more than 10, if he was even that, and his friends had looked even younger, the smallest at least 4.

Shun held his other hand out, “Give it back, it’s not yours.”

The boy withered under Shun’s gaze before opening his hand and releasing a small locket and dropping it into his outstretched hand. Even though it showed its age it was clearly well cared for, the metal having been cleaned recently so it shone in the dim light. The chain held much to be desired, far more tarnished and worn than the locket itself.

Satisfied, Shun let go of his wrist before tucking the small locket away. He had more important things to do than chase down minor pickpockets and hand them over to cops.

An engine sounded from down the road and he looked down the road to see a large black D-Wheel headed this way. Was that the ‘crow’ the kids had mentioned?

“Hey you, leave him alone!” yelled the rider, the other two kids clinging tightly to his back.

“Frank!” called out the girl. “We got Crow!”

Crow it seemed was not the name of the D-Wheel, though with the wing design it would have been accurate, but the person driving it. Crow skidded to a stop, pulling the D-Wheel up parallel to Shun so it blocked the length of the street and prevented Shun from going any farther. “Is this the new low people are sinking to, accosting kids in the middle of the street?” the man asked.

Shun raised an eyebrow and gave the two smaller passengers a curious look, what had they told this Crow?

“I don’t have time for this,” he said, turning away from Crow and starting down the road in the opposite direction.

“Hey, I wasn’t done with you!”

“I am.” He could hear the D-Wheel motoring along beside him but he didn’t stop, he didn’t have time for this. “Are the kids yours?”

“I look after them yes.”

“Then you might want to ask them again what they were up to,” said Shun.

The rider frowned before turning to the three kids, all of which had gained a vey meek look. “What trouble are you getting into now?”


	31. Synchro Arc part 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And Rin and Shinji's past is revealed.  
> And Yuri gets himself into some, trouble.

“Pick pocketing?” Crow slammed his hands down on the table with a resounding slap, causing the three to jump back in surprise. “I thought I taught you better than that? What were the three of you thinking?”

Frank, Amanda and Tanner, as Shun had learned their names were, nervously looked away from Crow, fingers twisting together behind their backs.

After extracting the actual story from them, Crow had dragged the three of them back home, along with inviting Shun back in the hopes of finding some way to make up for the trouble they’d caused.

The three kids exchanged nervous looks, they’d been busted and badly, and now they were getting scolded.

“We just wanted to help,” said the girl. “You’re always busy so we thought, if we could get something we could sell, maybe you wouldn’t always have to work so much.”

Crows eyes softened and he made his way around the table to where the three stood, placing his hands on their heads as he pulled them into a hug.

“Why do you think I work so hard? So you don’t have to do this. Do you want to get dragged off to the Facility? Or end up with a face like mine?” He indicated to the numerous yellow marks that adorned his forehead and cheeks.

 _So_ , thought Shun, those weren’t just some kind of fashion statement for this dimension.

“Now, I think you three have something to say to him,” said Crow as he stood up and turned them to face Shun.

“We’re sorry,” said Amanda, “We won’t do it again, we promise!”

“Really, really sorry!” added Tanner as if to emphasize this point.

Shun nodded, the apology was more than accepted, not that he’d been all that mad to begin with. No one had gotten hurt and he’d gotten back what they’d stolen.

“Good, now you three go and wash up,” said Crow, ushering them from the room. “You’ve caused your quota of trouble today. And besides Shinji will be back soon.”

He turned to Shun once the kids had left and sighed, rubbing the back of his head, “I’m sorry about them. Normally they’re good kids, I can’t believe they’d try to steal from you like that.”

“It’s ok,” said Shun.

“No it’s not, I’ve told them before not to steal, they should have known better.” Crow folded his arms over his chest with an annoyed huffed. “What did they take anyways?”

He pulled out the small locket and Crow gave a low whistle. “It’s nice, but I don’t think it’d fetch much. Sentimental right?”

Shun nodded, clicking it open for a moment. Inside was a small, rather worn looking picture of him, Ruri and Yuto. Ruri had surprised them both by hooking her arms around them when she pulled them in for the picture, resulting in very wide-eyed looks of surprise from both Yuto and himself. Shun had wanted to take it again, he looked like a fool, but Ruri insisted it was perfect the way it was. He’d been carrying it as a memento after he’d lost them both, the only memory he allowed himself to hold onto. But with them both back in his life it felt a bit odd to hold onto it, even though he couldn’t bring himself to let go of it.

“Friends huh?” asked Crow, leaning over to take a look before Shun closed it and put it away.

“My best friend and my little sister,” he clarified.

“I see why you’d hold onto it then,” said Crow. “Before you said you were in a hurry, trying to get somewhere? Maybe I could be of some help, make up for the trouble they caused you.”

Shun thought for a moment, could Crow help him locate the rest of the Lancers? They were supposed to be searching for allies after all and this would be a good place to start.

He never got the chance to ask as the front door slammed open loudly.

“Darn it Shinji, what have I told you about doing that? I can’t keep fixing that door because you took you anger out on it!” yelled Crow as he stalked into the main room.

Shun followed him to see who this ‘Shinji’ person was and decide if he should just leave and look on his own.

Shinji was a young man about Crow’s age, with two-toned short blue hair, green eyes and a very upset look on his face. He also wasn’t alone, as he was tailed by Yugo, Rin, Sora and Reira.

“You brought friends,” remarked Crow.

“They’re not friends.”

“Then why did you bring them back?”

Shun looked at the small group of four, at least that was some of the Lancers accounted for, even if they had managed to get themselves into trouble already.

“Are you ever going to tell us why you dragged us back here?” whined Yugo, finally fed up with the silent treatment he’d been getting.

Rin wrung her hands together nervously, gaze flitting back to Shinji every now and then.

“Yugo, remember that group I was a part of, the one that tried to stage the break out on the Underground?” she asked.

“You mean the one that…” She nodded. “What about it?”

“He was the leader.”

Yugo’s eyes widened and while Shun didn’t get the unspoken words that floated between the pair he could figure out enough to tell him that something had gone wrong with the breakout. Whatever they were talking about it couldn’t have been good.

Shinji up until this point had been rather quiet, despite the prodding of Crow, who seemed to be trying to get more than two or three words out of him.

“The breakout went bad because someone set us up,” he said. “We went over that plan hundreds of times, the alarm couldn’t have been tripped by accident. Someone did it on purpose.”

“Why would someone do that?” asked Yugo.

“I don’t know, why would someone sell out their own to Security?” asked Shinji. “Perhaps to ensure the release of a friend? Hand over the gang that’s been a thorn in their side in exchange for the release of a friend.” He turned, leveling his gaze with Rin. “Well?”

“Rin would never do that!” snapped Yugo defensively.

“That’s not what it looks like to me,” growled Shinji. “Hand over my group, have you freed and fake her death to cover her tracks so we don’t go looking for her.”

“If I had done all that then why would I come back here and come looking for you?” asked Rin, pushing past Yugo to face Shinji. “If what you say was true, which it isn’t, wouldn’t it make more sense for me not to come back here? If someone sold out your group it wasn’t me.”

“I trust all of them implicitly, but you, we barely knew you. I let you join because you pleaded your case well enough to impress everyone. You wanted to help; to save someone you cared about and that was an admirable desire.” His hands balled into fists at his sides, “We never had problem with any of our runs till that night, that was the first and only time something went that badly, that we ended up having Security on our tail. Half my group was caught that night. Except you, you’re free, as is your friend.”

“I–“ Rin started to protest but stopped when Yugo put a hand on her shoulder and shook his head, there was no way she could explain what had really happened, not without sounding crazy. “Look, believe what you want, but I didn’t sell anyone out,” she said. “Though obviously nothing I say will convince you otherwise.”

“I think,” piped up Crow before Shinji could speak again, “That this is a conversation best left for another time. When there aren’t small ears listening.” He gestured with his head to the kids, who were huddled near the doorway and listening in.

Shinji for what it was worth did drop the subject, though it was clear he wanted nothing to do with Rin or Yugo, moving to the opposite side of the table and refusing to look at them.

“Whatever the true story, you might as well stay here until morning, it’ll be curfew in a little while and if you caught then you’ll really be in trouble,” said Crow.

“Curfew?” asked Shun.

Crow nodded, “They instated it several years back, to try and get keep control of us Commons.”

A rather loud curse came from Yugo, who quickly clapped his hands over his mouth after a ‘Yugo language!’ hissed at him from Rin.

“I forgot about the curfew,” he said. “Yuri doesn’t know, and he’s out there running around. Oh this is going to be bad.”

 

When Yuri got hold of Yugo, he was going to kill him. That much he promised as he skidded down another road, trying to find someway he could out run the Security on D-Wheels that were tailing him.

Curfew, this dimension, or at least this city, had a goddamn curfew and Yugo hadn’t said anything about it. He’d just barely managed to slip past Security and out of the Tops quarter, only to be nailed for being out after curfew. And what kind of a curfew was 7pm anyways?

If only he could teleport, then he could lose them no problem, except he couldn’t, not unless he wanted to end up spliced through a wall or worse. Without knowing where he was trying to teleport to, especially if he couldn’t see his destination, made the risks out weigh the benefits.

The Barian World seemed like a good idea, but how would he get back to the Synchro dimension after that? He had no idea if he could actually go back to Synchro if he left.

Sirens blared again and he clicked his tongue in annoyance, on the other hand, maybe he didn’t want to come back to this godforsaken place.

His decision was made for him when he tripped up on a rock and was sent sprawling to the ground and rather painfully so. Being a Barian prevented him from actually being seriously injured, but it hurt nonetheless and slowed him down long enough for Yuri to find himself surrounded.

“Oh just great,” he groaned as he was hauled to his feet, hands pulled behind his back.

 

“He’s not answering me Rin,” said Yugo, finally admitting defeat when his call went unanswered yet again.

“I’m sure he’s fine,” she said, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“But what if he isn’t? What if he did get caught?”

“I’m sure he knows better than to get caught,” said Rin. “This is Yuri, he’ll stay out of trouble.”

Yugo snorted, “Are you kidding? This is Yuri, he’ll see Security as a challenge to beat.”

“I thought we were talking about Yuri not you?”

“Rin!”

“Yugo, relax, he’ll be fine. Give him a bit more credit.”

He sighed, “I’ll try, but I’m still worried. This place can be dangerous if you don’t know it.”

“I take it this friend of yours isn’t from around here?” asked Crow, setting cups of water down in front of them.

While Shinji may not have been to thrilled by their company, Crow seemed more than willing to accommodate them, shuttling Shinji off to keep an eye on Tanner, Frank and Amanda, as well as Reira once they’d extracted him from Sora’s arm. With Shinji out of the way, Crow settled them in at the table and got them some water to drink, they didn’t have much else. Shun didn’t want to impose but Crow insisted, besides he couldn’t rightly kick them out now that it was past curfew.

After glancing between Rin and Yugo, and Shun several times the latter finally clarified that no, they were not the same ones from the picture.

Yugo shook his head as he picked up his glass. “No he’s not. Most of our friends aren’t actually. And we still need to find a few more. I hope they’re all ok.”

“Dennis is probably smart enough to keep out of trouble,” said Sora. “Probably. I wouldn’t make book on Sawatari though, I bet he’ll do something stupid and get himself arrested first.”

Shun decided not to mention how he’d left the both of them, plus Gongenzaka, behind when he’d gotten lost. Hopefully Dennis was as smart as Sora made him out to be and could keep the other two from getting into trouble, or at least Sawatari, Gongenzaka seemed to have a good head on his shoulders so there probably wasn’t much to worry about with him.

“Well, you can stay over night, but you should probably head off first thing in the morning,” said Crow, glancing towards the other room.

“Oh don’t worry, we’ll be leaving,” muttered Rin. There was no doubt about that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Barians have so many bullshit powers it's ridiculous. Being able to teleport is one of these. I decided to nerf it a bit so as not to make things to easy(or there'd be no story).  
> Which is why Yuri cannot teleport away from Security.


	32. Synchro Arc part 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And Security continues to be, Security.

“Ruri, what are you doing here?” exclaimed Yuya as he came face to face with the last Barian he expected to see in the Barian World. “I thought you were in Standard.”

“I switched with Rin, I wanted to tell Yuto about what happened.”

“Looks like we both did,” laughed Yuzu. “That’s why we came. If we’d known we would have stayed.”

“How is he?” asked Yuya. “When we left he was, sore in the head.”

“He’s better,” she said with a nod. “I think his headache passed. Come on, you might as well go see him, you might have more information that I didn’t. After all, you saw the crystals and I didn’t.”

After trekking all the way from the Oceanside to the palace, Yuzu and Yuya had run smack dab into Ruri, who they’d been absolutely certain they’d left in Standard.

“I bet your brother wasn’t too happy about that switch,” said Yuzu.

Ruri shook her head, “Not really. He didn’t think I should go, but I told him I had to, and he wasn’t stopping me, big brother or not. Oi, Yuto!”

“I’m right where you left me Ruri,” he said, voice coming from the top of a large rock.

“Good, Yuya and Yuzu need you.”

“They’re here?”

“Surprise, surprise,” laughed Yuya. “Yuzu actually managed to open up a portal here, though we overshot where we came out. We ended up all the way down at the ocean.”

“At least you got the right dimension.” Yuto leapt down from the rock he’d been reclining on with the grace and ease of a cat.

“We wanted to talk to you about the crystals we found,” said Yuya.

“The Baria Crystals?”

Yuya nodded, “They appeared in our world, in Standard. I didn’t think they were supposed to do that.”

“They’re not,” said Yuto. “Which is strange.”

“I have a theory about them,” said Selena, descending the steps towards them. “But we’re going to need to need to go to one of the other dimensions to find out if I’m right. And we’re going to need someone to come clean with some personal details.”

“Personal, like what?” asked Yuzu.

She sighed, holding her arm nervously, “How they died. I think we should ask Yugo and Rin. Fusion is far too dangerous to go check out and the Xyz dimension is probably just as bad.”

“Which leaves only Synchro,” finished Yuto and she nodded.

“As far as I am aware, The Professor has yet to touch Synchro.”

“I guess we’re getting in contact with Yugo then.”

 

Yugo was just making himself comfortable beside Rin when his disk began to beep at him in the familiar ‘someone is calling’ tone.

“Oh finally! I guess that means he’s alright!” he said. “Yuri, are you ok?”

“Ah well, I hope he is, but this isn’t Yuri, this is Yuya.”

Yugo frowned and did a double take, sure enough, the red skinned Barian form of Yuya was looking back at him.

“Yuya?” He quickly looked around, wondering if anyone else had heard the call. He didn’t want to try and explain to Crow or Shinji why he was talking to someone that looked like a mouthless alien. “Could you keep it down?” he asked, holding the duel disk close to muffle the sound to any outside listeners. “There’s people around here that don’t know about, you, and I don’t want to end up trying to explain that.”

“Ah, actually, let me try something Yuri showed me the other day.” Yuya took a deep breath then, in a red flash, he looked human again. “There, it works here too.”

By now Rin was peering over Yugo’s shoulder at the call.

“So what’s this call about, I’m not thinking you just wanted to have a friendly chat,” she said, resting against his shoulder.

“It’s about the Baria Crystals, the ones that we found in Standard the other day.”

Yugo nodded, “We’re listening.”

“We had a theory about them, well Selena did actually. Maybe I should let her explain instead.”

Selena, who’d been just off to the side, appeared on screen, looking as human as Yuya.

“Between what Ruri, Yuya and Yuzu told us, I have a theory that these crystals are somehow connected to our, deaths,” she said, hesitating momentarily at the end. “They said the crystals appeared where they died.” Yugo and Rin nodded and she continued. “This is where you come in, the only way to check the theory is to visit someone else’s death site. My home, as well as Yuto’s, is too dangerous to check, which leaves you.”

“Well we’re half way there then,” said Yugo. “We’re in Synchro at the moment. That’s why I was worried about Yuri, we all got sort of, split up after we got here.”

There was a moment of silence on the other end before, “Wait, seriously?” asked Yuya. “How? Why?”

“Akaba Reiji, he said we needed to find allies here if we’re ever to stand up to Academia, so he sent us all here,” said Yugo. “Calls us the ‘Lancers’ too. So, I take it you want us to check out the places we died and look for crystals?”

Selena nodded, “Exactly.”

“And if we find them, what then?”

“Release the energy in them. It’ll cause them to crumble and vanish, if they do what Yuya’s did,” she said. “I’m not sure why, but I think The Professor has taken an interest in them, so we need to find them before he does.”

“Probably the power,” said Yugo. “Apparently they have a lot of energy in them, that Reiji fellow was rather interested in them and where they came from. Yuri said he was worried he was going to use it as a weapon.”

“All the more reason for us to find them first then,” said Selena. “If what happened to Heartland is as bad as Yuto and Ruri say, and he did all that without this power, all the dimensions are doomed if he gets his hands on power from this world.”

“The fallout would be catastrophic,” said Rin with a shiver. “Not to mention the Barian World would be doomed as well.” She sighed and looked at Yugo, “Looks like we’re going to have to split up and cover more ground.”

Yugo shuddered and blanched, “I’m going to have to visit the Underground garbage facility again, great.”

“So how do we release the energy?” asked Rin.

Yuya rubbed the back of his head, “Yeah, that we’re not really sure about,” he said. “I’m not even sure how I did it. I just, grabbed it.”

“I guess we’ll have to wing it then,” said Yugo with a sigh.

“Just, try to be careful,” warned Yuya.

“Don’t worry, I will be. I know how dangerous this place is.” He rubbed his arm nervously, “I’m just worried no one else does.”

 

Yuri groaned, rubbing his head as he sat up. It throbbed something fierce and he could feel a lump under his hand.

Right, that was why it had hurt, after he’d found himself surrounded by those Security people he’d mouthed off to one of them. It probably wasn’t the smartest thing to do because one of them cracked him upside the head with, something, a foot perhaps, he wasn’t sure. But he didn’t remember much after that.

The ground under his hands seemed to rumble and shake and after a moment he realized it wasn’t the ground but the bottom of a car or truck.

“Looks like he finally woke up,” said someone.

So he wasn’t alone either.

“Damn my head,” he growled as he sat up, keeping one hand on his head. “What a bunch of bastards.” Looking around he discovered he really wasn’t alone, there were a couple other people in the vehicle with him. Most of them had obscure yellow marks of various sizes and shapes adorning their faces, some more than others. “Where are they taking me?”

“Well, if you’re in here then you’re probably on your way to the Facility for processing,” said someone.

“Look at his face, must be a first time offender,” said someone else. “What are you in for?”

“Who knows. Those idiots just chased me down, and didn’t like it when I talked back. I think there was something about a curfew.”

The man closest to him nodded, “Ah, if that’s all then you’ll get a slap on the hand and turned loose in the morning on good behaviour.”

“Why is there even a curfew anyways?”

“Why do you think? To keep us Commons under control and stop us from being a problem for the Tops.”

Tops and Commons, Yugo had mentioned something about that but he hadn’t elaborated to much. He moved his hands and realized for the first time that they were handcuffed together and he no longer had his duel disk.

“Oh what the hell?!” he exclaimed, stumbling back as he looked at his hands. “Those-those bastards took my stuff!”

“You really aren’t from around here are ya kid?”

“What gave it away?”

“Seems there’s a lot of curfew breakers tonight,” said the first speaker. “I heard them talking about having picked up several other curfew breakers earlier.”

Yuri raised his head curiously, “Other curfew breakers?”

 

Yugo sighed, leaning against the wall as he stared at the ceiling. Somehow he was going to have to break in to the Underground, something considerably easier said than done, as Rin could attest to. And Rin, she was going to have to split off from everyone to find her accident site.

All without being caught by Security.

He had no idea how they were going to manage that at all.

‘ _I suppose I should follow Rin’s example and rest,_ ’ he thought, looking over at her as she slept beside him.

Folding his hands in his lap he closed his eyes, hoping to get some rest before they were evicted and left to fend for themselves in the morning.

His consciousness drifted for a moment and the next thing Yugo knew the entire house was lit up as if dawn had come early.

“What the hell?”

“It’s Security!” hissed Rin.

“What?”

She grabbed his arm, hauling him to his feet and through the house, out the back door that Crow held open.

“What are they even doing here?” asked Yugo.

“They probably followed you two,” growled Shinji.

“Shinji not now, we have to get the kids out of here,” snapped Crow. “We can figure this out later.”

With Security in the front the group filed out the back, and Crow and Shinji made beelines for their D-Wheels.

“Do not resist!” Wheels screeched as Security rounded the house, trapping the group, their headlights flooding the area.

Crow pushed his charges, plus Reira, to the back of the group in an effort to protect them.

“Don’t hurt the kids!” he yelled as he was grabbed, arms pinned behind his back.

Yugo felt himself backed into Rin, and Sora stumbled through the mess, nearly getting hit by Shun’s elbow as the Xyz duelist tried to fight back against several members of Security. Someone grabbed Yugo from behind and the next thing he knew he was in the dirt, hands pinned behind his back.

Shun grunted as he was slammed into a bike, his luck finally running out as he was overpowered and cuffed.

Security won out and they were shuttled into the back of a large van, hands cuffed behind their backs.

Rin hung her head as she stumbled in, avoiding Shinji’s sharp glare, there was no way he was going to believe that she hadn’t led them there now.

Sora craned his neck, trying to look past the group to the kids that were hiding in the yard, clearly of no concern to Security. His stomach knotted, he could only count three of them, the ones Crow had been taking care of. He looked through the car again, just the 6 of then. Reira was missing.

“Guys, Reira’s gone!” he squeaked, jumping as Shun landed roughly on the bench beside him.

“He’s fine,” said Shun, shifting his arms around behind him. “Akaba Reiji’s lapdog took him. He’s safe.”

“Wait, how do you know?” asked Sora.

“I saw it, for a moment in the confusion.”

Sora sighed, “As long as no one’s having my head for losing him.”

Yugo sat down beside Rin, attempting to reach her hands with his own, only to fall a few inches to short.

“Yugo, why is this happening?” she asked. “What are we being arrested for? I know Security is tough, but even they don’t break into houses without cause like that.”

“I don’t know,” replied Yugo, bumping her shoulder with his own in an affectionate gesture. “I just hope we’ll find out.”

“Like hell you don’t know,” snapped Shinji. “I heard you earlier, talking to someone. You were coordinating with Security to find us.”

“Shinji that is enough,” snapped Crow.

“I was talking to someone, but not Security,” snorted Yugo. “Why would I talk with these dips? Getting arrested only makes things harder for us.”

“He’s right,” said Sora. “How are we supposed to search for allies if we’re getting arrested?”

This caught Crow’s attention, “Allies?”

Sora nodded, there was no point in hiding it, as far as he was concerned. “Yeah, see there’s an interdimensional war headed this way, and we came to look for allies to help stop it.”

Yugo hung his head and Shun sighed as he let his head fall back with a thud; there was no way anyone was going to believe that.

Crow raised an eyebrow skeptically, “Uh-huh. You came from another dimension?”

“These people are insane,” muttered Shinji.

“No, he’s pretty much spot on,” said Rin. “Even if he was a bit blunt about it. That’s who Yugo was talking with, some of our allies in another dimension to figure out what to do. And this,” she gestured with her head to the van, “just throws a monkey wrench into everything.” Taking a deep breath she leveled her gaze with Shinji’s, “Whether you believe us or not I don’t care, but this is what we’re doing. And furthermore, I would never lead Security anywhere, let alone a home with children in it.”

Having said her piece she leaned against Yugo’s arm with a sigh and closed her eyes. There was no getting out of there so she decided to just wait it out in silence.


	33. Synchro Arc part 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As much as I hate Roger, his cunning and conniving character is fun to write.

After arriving at what he assumed was the ‘Facility’ Yuri found himself being separated from the rest of the passengers and taken to another holding cell. This one, like the car was not empty, but at least this time he recognized who was there.

“Well, isn’t this a funny surprise,” said Dennis from where he was perched on a bench, hands cuffed together in his lap. Gongenzaka and Sawatari sat a little ways off from him, looking rather bored. All of them had been stripped of their duel disks as well. Much like Yuri, they too had had their hands cuffed in front.

Yuri grunted in disgust, “Of course it would be you,” he muttered. “At least I’m not the only one who got arrested.”

“This place has a curfew, can you believe it, a curfew!” sputtered Sawatari. “We got nailed for a stupid curfew. All because that stupid Kurosaki decided to go off on his own.”

“So, any idea what they want with us?” asked Yuri. “They’ve separated us from the rest of the prisoners.”

Gongenzaka shook his head silently. “Not a clue,” said Dennis with faux cheer, at least Yuri hoped it was faked. “They didn’t say.”

Yuri sighed, rubbing his head and trying to will away the throbbing ache in it. If it weren’t for the fact that his deck had been taken from him as well, he would have just up and left for the Barian World. He didn’t care if the others saw him open a portal, he just wanted as far away from Dennis as he could possibly be.

His thoughts were interrupted when a cacophony of voices filled the air from the other end of the hall, several of which he recognized.

“Yugo?”

Sure enough, moments later Yugo, Rin and several others were herded into the cell, the door slammed shut behind them. Unlike the original occupants, they had been cuffed with their hands behind their back.

Now all the Lancers, save three, were gathered in the cell along with two people he definitely didn’t recognize.

“Looks like everyone’s having a bad day,” said Yuri. “Or night I suppose.”

Yugo growled, slamming his shoulder against the bars, “This is so unfair. They had no right to raid the house. I knew Security was rotten, but this is low even for them.”

“Then again, bad might be an understatement,” said Yuri, shoulders slumping. “Oi Yugo, are you done ranting, because I have questions.”

“No, he’ll probably keep going,” sighed Rin.

“I’ll just ask you then, this is your home dimension.”

She glanced back at Yugo, who was still fuming and calling out at anyone who might hear him, and hurling a myriad of colourful insults, then back to Yuri. “I’m listening.”

“One, this curfew, is this new or did he just neglect to tell me about it?”

“The latter, it was instated years ago. Yugo just forgot.”

“Bastard,” he muttered. “Fine, second, what is the ‘Facility’ exactly.”

Rin sighed, “Prison, for the most part. For minor offences you’re just re-educated and sent back out. Make too many minor offences and they’ll start marking you,” she gestured with her head to the strangers that had been shuttled in with them. “Since the marks can track you, you often get sent back out if it is, again, minor. Otherwise, for major offences or continuous repeat offences, you end up here and stay here. There’s no getting out.”

“Unless they send you Underground,” said Yugo bitterly, dropping onto the bench beside her, hanging his head in defeat.

“Underground?”

Yugo nodded, “The garbage facility under the City. Sometimes they send people from The Facility there to work.”

“I thought you mentioned a they sent people from tournament or something.”

“I did. The Friendship Cup. You lose there and it’s a one-way trip to the Underground. That’s what happened to me.”

There was a moment of uncomfortable silence, broken when Sora finally spoke up. “And everyone thinks our dimension is bad. At least Academia never used slave labour.”

“No, you just laid waste to my home,” growled Shun.

Sora shrugged, “I never said we were perfect.”

“So you’re telling me we’ve all been arrested and may or may not get out?” asked Yuri.

“Pretty much.”

He muttered something under his breath and shook his head. “Alright, and what about them?” asked Yuri, indicating to the two strangers that had been thrown in with them, one with hair almost as red as Dennis’ who was looking between Yugo and Yuri with interest and confusion, and another who seemed to be giving Rin a death glare.

“Ah, they were helping us when we were, caught,” said Yugo.

“Does it seem weird to anyone else that they managed to round up Lancers and only Lancers?” asked Sora.

Yuri frowned and looked around, he was right, aside from their two accidental catches, everyone they’d put in there was a Lancer. Something wasn’t right.

“I think someone knows we’re here,” he said.

 

Time dragged on and eventually the group lapsed into a bored silence. There was clearly no one out there to hear them yelling and if there was they weren’t bothering to respond.

Shun leaned up against the wall, eyes closed in deep thought; Sora swung his feet back and forth as he sat on the bench. Yugo, Yuri and Rin were seated together, with Yugo burying his face into Rin’s shoulder with an exasperated groan.

Sawatari, Gongenzaka and Dennis sat on another bench, Gongenzaka acting much like Shun, sitting in silence, while Sawatari had long since given up complaining when it clearly wouldn’t get him anywhere, instead opting to sulk in silence. Dennis was tinkering with his cuffs, seemingly trying to find a way to get free.

The two accidental grabs, whom Yuri learned were named Crow Hogan and Shinji Weber, kept their distance from the rest of them.

A door opened up at the end of the hall and all heads turned towards the noise, was someone finally coming for them?

No less than half a dozen Security agents stopped in front of the cell and Crow instinctively moved away from the bars.

“It seems the Director would like to see the lot of you,” said one of the guards. “We have been instructed to bring you to him.”

Shinji hissed and shot Rin and Yugo a dirty look, “So you are in league with the Tops.”

Rin by this point was making a point of out right ignoring him, having decided that there was no point to trying to convince him other wise. Shinji had made up his mind about her and her allegiances and there was clearly no changing it.

There was a click as the door was opened and the Lancers were herded out.

 

The Director, the mere mention of the name sent chills through Yugo’s spine. Ever since he’d been promoted to Director, it seemed as if life for the Commons had gotten worse. And now Yugo found himself being dragged to meet this man. This would certainly be an experience. Hopefully one he wasn’t going to repeat.

“So who’s this director?” asked Sora, inching towards Yugo and Rin through the group. “Is he like the boss around here?”

“Something like that,” sighed Yugo.

“I take it he’s not a pleasant man,” said Yuri.

Yugo nodded, “You saw how things are, who do you think keeps it that way? And it’s not just him, the Council too.”

Sora shuddered, suddenly more nervous for the meeting than he had been before.

They were transported from the cramped cell in the Facility to an equally cramped truck to be taken somewhere else across the city.

There was barely any wiggle room, shoulders bumping into shoulders, as they were crammed onto the two benches in the back.

The truck finally came to a stop out front of a rather magnificent building that reached to the heavens. Unlike the section of the city they’d found themselves in that it was grimy and dingy, this place gleamed with a pristine shine.

The building was huge, the center point of The City, and Yugo could only hold his breath as he stared; it was the Executive Council’s headquarters. And for the first time in his life, he would be going inside.

 

Yuri sighed as stared at the ceiling, lying sprawled out on a bed. They’d gone to see the Director all right, one Jean-Michel Roger, and right away Yuri knew this man was bad news. He knew more than he was letting on, Yuri was sure of it. He seemed, almost too well prepared for them, and too unsurprised by their arrival.

And then there was Akaba Reiji, and the Executive Council. Somehow, some way, Reiji had gotten there before them, and unlike them, wasn’t cuffed, in fact he was very much a free man. Reira had been there as well, clutching Reiji’s leg tightly.

He pleaded their case before the Council and Roger, that they were peaceful and had no desire to disrupt their peace, they only wished to seek out allies, to lend assistance to the Synchro dimension. He told them of the coming war, headed by the Fusion dimension.

They were, unsurprisingly, skeptical.

 

_“If what you say is true then that is a grave matter,” said the Councilman seated in the middle._

_Reiji raised an eyebrow “If?”_

_“You must admit, such a thing sounds like a tall tale, not easy to believe.”_

_“And if it were true, why would we need your help?” asked Roger, hands folded behind his back. “We have plenty of fine duelists here. In fact it seems_ _you have arrived just in time to see them,” said Jean-Michel Roger, a smile spreading across his face as he clapped his hands together. “Today is the start of the Friendship Cup.”_

 

The Friendship Cup, Yugo had mentioned that before. It was as the name suggested, a tournament. They had arrived on opening night and had been oh so graciously invited to stay and watch, as there was no time to set them up to participate.

Which of course meant they were given rooms in a penthouse above the Executive Council Building and promptly locked in them. It didn’t matter that they had floor to ceiling windows with a view of the city, or large televisions on which to watch the tournament-which was happening petty much right outside their window- or even that they’d been given their duel disks back, or were promised room service with food.

They had been split up and locked in their rooms; they were just as much prisoners there as they had been at the Facility, the only difference being that these prisons traded bars for locks and room service.

Yuri rubbed his forehead, his headache still hadn’t gone away, maybe it was the dimension causing it, the whole thing itself was a headache anyways.

He had the option to leave, now that his deck was safely back with him, and heading back to the Barian World. But Yuri wasn’t sure if he wanted to, after all that meant confronting Yuto and he was pretty sure Yuto wanted his head.

He sighed again, draping his arms over his face, what a choice to make.

 

Jean-Michel Roger, Sora mulled the name over in his head, he wasn’t sure why, but there was something vaguely familiar about the name but for the life of him he couldn’t place it.

With a groan he flopped onto the bed, maybe after some sleep he would remember.

 

Yugo was considerably less quiet than the rest, pounding on the door of his room. He had no desire to be locked in and wanted out. He needed out to search for the crystals, to get to the Underground. And to get back to Rin, being locked in the room meant he’d been separated from her. And the last time he’d been locked away somewhere and separated from her…

“Damn it, just let me out of here!” His fist hit the door with a resounding thump and he finally sank to his knees. He was sure everyone could hear him; it was just that no one cared. “Argh! What a pain!”

The sound of approaching footsteps silenced Yugo’s protests and he pressed an ear to the door, trying to hear what was going on, had someone finally decided to come and let them out?

 

Dennis fidgeted about, twisting his fingers together. The last thing he’d been expecting was someone to come to his room saying that the Director wanted to speak with him, and then be taken to him.

“Dennis Macfield I presume?”

His head shot up at the sound of his name, there was no way someone from the Synchro dimension should know his name, it wasn’t as if they’d introduced themselves after all, save for Akaba Reiji.

“You know my name,” he said.

Roger smiled, a sickly cold smile as he sat down across from the fusion duelist, a chessboard situated between them. “It seems that you and I have some things to discuss.”


	34. Synchro Arc part 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because of the 8, Yuri is definitely the one most likely to abuse the fuck out of his Barian powers(as in, use them in front of people and not give a shit who sees).

The only time Yugo’s door opened it was for the staff to bring him food. A sentiment he might have appreciated more if he was actually hungry and needed food, but as a Barian, he was neither.

‘ _I need to find a way out, I can’t search for the Baria crystals otherwise,_ ’ he thought. ‘ _But how do I get out?_ ’

Sitting up he looked around the room, he’d already proved that he couldn’t break the door down, and no amount of pounding on it would garner attention. He looked towards the window, if they’d been lower down he’d have just tried to break it and get out that way, the problem was they were so high up that would be a death sentence, and there was nothing but water and roadways outside. Provided he could die a second time, he wasn’t sure and he didn’t want to find out.

‘ _Then again…_ ’

The sound of cracking glass brought the on duty Security running to Yugo’s room and the moment the door opened he acted. Fist met face and the man dropped like a stone.

“Nothing personal, but I’m taking these,” said Yugo, slipping free a ring of keys before dragging the man into the room and locking the door. “Now, to get everyone else.”

 

To say Rin was surprised when Yugo threw open the door to her room was an understatement. In fact she hadn’t been expecting anyone to show up.

“Yugo, what are, how are, what’s going on?” she sputtered as she tried to process the sight before her, Yugo in her doorway, looking very smug and very excited.

He grinned and grabbed her hand, “We’re getting out of here!”

 

Yuri sat up on the bed and turned his attention towards the door, it was getting rather noisy outside. The sound of feet thundering down the hall and frantic voices filled the air as the commotion neared his door. As they passed there was a light click from his door.

‘ _What on earth?_ ’ He went for the door and found it to be unlocked. Peering out he saw the blur that was Yugo and Rin running down the hallway, unlocking doors as they went. ‘ _Well, it looks like things just got interesting._ ’

 

“Sir!” a technician at one of the computers looked up, a finger pressed to the headset. “Director sir, we have a situation.”

“Oh?”

“It-it seems our guests, are out of their rooms.”

Roger frowned. “How many?”

“Sir?”

“How many are out?”

“A-all of them sir.”

“What‽” He slammed his hands on the table, causing several of the techs to jump. “Lock that building down and get Security in there now to round them up. And relay one other order.”

 

The building was a mess of activity; while Yugo had managed to get everyone out of their rooms the building had fallen into lock down before they could get out, leaving the lot of them trapped in the lobby.

“Yugo, what do we do now?” asked Rin as they found the doors outside locked. “How do we get out?”

He looked down at his arm, then back to Rin. “We could teleport.”

“What about everyone else?”

“Can’t we let them fend for themselves?”

“Yugo!”

He groaned, “Fine, let’s try to find another way out.” Maybe it was a bit cruel but all Yugo wanted to do was get out to look for the crystals, whether or not the others got out wasn’t his priority. After all if the were locked up then they wouldn’t be in any danger.

From outside he could hear the approaching sound of Security, their D-Wheels drawing ever closer. If they couldn’t get out before they got there the whole thing would be for nothing.

Yugo looked around the room, by now everyone had come out from their rooms to see what was going on, everyone save for Dennis who was conspicuous by his absence.

Crow and Shinji were trying to pry the doors open, with no luck, while Shun, Gongenzaka and Sawatari were trying to find a window large enough and low enough to escape from.

“What about this?” suggested Yuri, leaning against the wall and gesturing to the air duct a few feet above his head. “It should lead outside right?”

“Yuri, that’s too small, no one could fit in there,” said Yugo.

“Really? Shiunin probably could.”

All eyes turned to Sora, who looked very nervous at the sudden attention.

“M-me? I don’t know, I think it might be to small,” he said, taking a step back. “I might get stuck.”

Yuri snorted, “If anyone can fit it would be you, you’re the smallest one here after all.”

“We’ve nothing left to lose,” said Yugo, grabbing the nearest object he could find and climbing up as he could remove the grate that covered the front. “And we need at least one person outside.” He tossed the grate aside with a clang before jumping down.

Sora gulped, looking between the vent and everyone around him. Well, the worst that could happen was that he’d get suck. Taking a deep breath he grabbed the edge and hauled himself up and into the duct, he was sure that if he didn’t try of his own volition someone would force him, and he really didn’t want that.

It was a snug fit and it was doubtful anyone else could fit; Yugo or Yuri might if they really tried but it would be tight. He couldn’t turn around and at the faint sound of a door slamming open and raised voices, he sped up, using his forearms to drag himself through the duct. No way was he being caught now.

The sounds eventually faded off into a dull roar behind him and Sora prayed that no one was coming after him as he continued crawling, never once slowing, his heart pounding in his chest.

 

Yuri grunted as his hands were cuffed behind his back and he was tossed into the back of a car.

“The director wants to see you,” said one of the Security officers before slamming the door shut.

Security had swarmed the place like ants and while they’d sent everyone else back to their rooms, they had seemingly decided to weed out Yuri and drag him away in cuffs.

He growled, wishing he’d bailed when he’d had the chance to do so. Whatever this Roger fellow wanted with him it couldn’t be good.

He wasn’t taken far, as the vehicle stopped outside the Security Headquarters and he was hauled out again and dragged through the halls.

“So, why does he want to see me?” he asked, looking over his shoulder. “What makes me so special?”

His question went unanswered and he was shoved into the room rather unceremoniously, stumbling over his feet in the process.

“Where is the other?” snapped Roger.

“Sir?”

“I told you to bring me both of them, I only see one.”

The Security gulped, “I’m sorry sir, Shiunin, he was nowhere to be found. It seems he, escaped.”

Roger slammed his hands on the table, causing everyone around him to flinch, “Then find him!”

“Y-yes sir!” The guard turned on his heel and nearly bolted from the room.

Once the guard had gone, Roger turned his attention to Yuri, who felt a sickening sense of dread welling up. This man was bad news.

“Why don’t you have a seat? I believe you and Macfield are acquainted.”

“Hello!”

Yuri’s spun around, looking in the direction of the sickeningly cheerful voice. The red-haired duelist was seated comfortably in a chair across from Roger and waved a gloved hand in Yuri’s direction. Yuri clenched his jaw, so that explained why he hadn’t seen him during the attempted breakout because he was already gone.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, acid dripping from his voice.

“I was invited,” said Dennis, with a flourish of his hand. “Just as you were.”

Yuri glanced over his shoulder at his cuffed hands, then towards Dennis, who was definitely not cuffed. “Yes, just like you.” He wouldn’t have called this being invited, more like forced. But that still didn’t answer the question as to why he was there. Or why it sounded like they had wanted Sora as well.

“I’m sure the Professor will be most interested to see you again,” cooed Dennis.

Yuri hissed, so that was it, handing them over to the Professor to be dealt with. But what did Roger have to do with this? His gaze momentarily flicked over to Roger, who showed absolutely no surprise at the mention of the Professor. Clearly Dennis had been in a chatty mood.

“You really are slime,” said Yuri, glaring at Dennis.

“You’re the traitor here not me,” said Dennis with a shrug.

Yuri snorted, “That might be a matter of perspective Macfield. After all, the rest of the Lancers might beg to differ.”

Dennis smirked, “How would they know? It’s your word against mine, and just whom do you think they’ll believe hmm? I am far more charming than you, Yuri. And besides, once we turn you and Shiunin over to the Professor for the traitors you are, who’s going to know the truth?”

“Kurosaki?”

Dennis grimaced, “Yes well, I can deal with him.”

Yuri fidgeted about in his cuffs, flexing and unflexing his hands. If they were hunting Sora then he needed to warn him, as much as he didn’t want to stay in this dimension any more than he absolutely had to. If anything happened to the pint-sized fusion user Yuya would probably have his head.

“You know, I would love to stay and talk, because I’m sure you can provide scintillating conversation, but I can’t.” Energy crackled at his fingertips as he opened his hands. “I’d say ‘I’m sorry’ for this, but I’m not.”

There was no time for the guard behind Yuri to shout a warning before a small explosion rocked the room, sending him flying backwards from the shockwave and everyone else stumbling as smoke filled the air.

Yuri rubbed his wrists as the remains of the cuffs fell away. It hadn’t been one of his more brilliant ideas, but it did the job as a distraction so that they wouldn’t see him breaking the cuffs.

Now he just had to get out of there and warn Shiunin, there was a target painted on both of their heads now.


	35. Synchro Arc part 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing Sora and Yuri interacting like this was far more amusing and fun than I expected it to be.

Once he reached the end of the duct it was simply a matter of Sora pushing out the grate covering the opening and crawling out. Yuri had been right, it led outside, and from the looks of it there was no one around either.

The vent had widened up enough that he had more wiggle room than before, allowing him to back up slightly. With a grunt he slammed his shoulder into it, wincing in pain when he was met with resistance. He rubbed his shoulder; this was not going to be fun. Clenching his jaw, Sora slammed into the grate again, biting back a cry, this time successful in knocking it loose.

‘ _That’s gonna bruise,_ ’ he thought, rubbing his shoulder before shifting about to climb down. ‘ _Now where the heck am I?_ ’

No sooner was he on his feet than a loud crack split the air, like a distant explosion.

He craned his neck up and looked around for the source of the sound, nothing seemed to be on fire or billowing smoke, so perhaps it was nothing. Then sirens filled the air as D-Wheels raced down the street, sending Sora running for cover. It was something all right, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to find out what.

 

Yuri hissed as he darted through the air, bounding from rooftop to rooftop till he finally came to a stop to catch his breath. Using his powers like this outside of the Barian world was risky, it would leave him drained of energy and vulnerable, and probably make his headache worse, but he had no other choice. He had to get away from Roger, and this was the only way.

‘ _Shiunin, where the hell are you?_ ’

 

As the dust settled it became apparent that Yuri was nowhere to be found, having shattered his bonds and left a sizeable hole in the wall from where he’d taken off.

“Well that could have gone better,” sighed Dennis, brushing wall dust off his jacket. “Typical Yuri, doing things the hard way.” He turned to Roger, who was still barking orders at everyone. “Sir, if I may be so bold, perhaps you might allow me to bring him back? I know Yuri better than anyone.”

Roger scowled as he looked down at him, “Are you implying that the Security Bureau isn’t good enough?”

“N-not at all,” replied Dennis quickly, holding his hands up. “However I know how he thinks, if you allow me I’m sure I could find him. If you let me of course, I would never try to overstep you.”

Roger studied him for a moment, a scowl firm on his lips. “I’ll be sending Security with you. And make sure you bring back Shiunin if you find him.”

“Oh you needn’t worry about, I don’t plan on letting either traitor escape.”

 

Sora sighed as he dropped from the roof of a building onto the street below, he was pretty sure he’d managed to evade Security, at least for the time being. After hearing the blaring sirens he took off running, keeping to alleyways and back roads, even though he didn’t have any idea where he was or where he was going.

By the time he stopped running he found himself back somewhere in the Common’s district and the sun was beginning to set.

He grunted, rubbing his shoulder in pain as he looked back at the towering buildings from the Tops’ quarters. It wasn’t going to be easy to break everyone out, not since he would have to sneak back into the Tops section to do it.

‘ _I need to find somewhere to lay low_ ,’ he thought as he looked around. Getting caught out after curfew would not do him any favours. ‘ _Where does Crow live again? Maybe I can bum there for a bit? I’m sure he won’t mind._ ’

He just had to figure out where Crow lived and where he was in relation to it. Being stuck in an unfamiliar dimension was such a pain.

 

Sora wasn’t sure how far he’d walked, sticking to the back roads and alleys to keep from being seen. Once or twice he’d even had to duck into a balcony and out of sight at the sound of approaching sirens, and lay there till they passed.

All the buildings and roads looked nearly the same to him and he was about to search for higher ground when something grabbed his arm.

He spun with a start, instinctively raising his left arm to initiate a duel, only to stop when he saw three familiar faces looking at him. It was Crow’s kids, and one of them, either Tanner or Frank, he couldn’t remember, had hold of his arm.

“Oh, it’s just you,” he said with a sigh, lowering his arm. “What are you doing out here?”

The girl, Amanda, he remembered, raised a finger to her lips in a hushing motion before grabbing his other arm and dragging him off down the road.

“It’s not safe for you out here,” said the older boy as they ran, nearly pulling Sora off his feet. “Duel Chasers and the Arrest Corps are everywhere, especially with curfew coming. The sun’s almost down.”

Finding Crow’s house proved to be less of a problem than he’d expected as the kids dragged him right to it, practically shoving him through the door. Once the door shut he was bombarded with questions at rapid fire pace.

“How did you get free? Where’s big bro Crow?” asked the smaller boy, looking up at Sora with wide eyes.

“Why are you free but Crow isn’t? Is he gonna be ok? Where’d they take everyone?”

“Guys! One at a time!” Sora raised his voice louder than he expected, causing them to jump in surprise. It stopped the questions effectively enough, though he felt bad for yelling.

“I don’t know,” he said finally, rubbing his arm nervously. “I was the only one who was able to escape, but Crow’s ok, I’m sure he is.”

“But how’d you escape, no one escapes The Facility,” said Amanda.

“No one that hasn’t been caught,” added the older boy, whom Sora by now, was pretty sure was named Frank.

“We weren’t at The Facility,” said Sora. “They moved us. Took us to some big building in the middle of the City.”

The kid’s eyes widened as they listened to Sora. “But why?” asked Amanda with a frown. “Everyone always goes to the Facility.”

Sora shrugged, “I dunno, I wasn’t in the mood to ask. But don’t worry; I’m going to rescue everyone. I just don’t know how. I have to sneak back into the Top’s section after all.”

The three exchanged a look. “How about a disguise?” suggested Amanda. “If they’re looking for you then they know what you look like.”

“Maybe, but right now I think I need to crash here till morning. I’m tired, and I’m sore.”

 

Yuri landed on the next roof with a soft thump; he had no doubt that Sora had headed back to the Commons’ district, the only question was whether or not he’d made it there or if he’d been caught. No, he was too tenacious to be caught. For the time being, the Common’s district was probably the safest place for him, even with that curfew in place, it wasn’t likely that Security would be searching there.

He sat down with a sigh, rubbing his temples with his fingers, trying to ease the pounding in his skull. At least the noise of the D-Wheels had since faded, so that was one less thing to aggravate his sore head.

He was sure Sora would have gone somewhere familiar, but Yugo was the one that’d been with him, not him, so he had no idea where to go, or where anything was.

Yuri looked down at the duel disk, he could always try calling Yugo again to get some directions, but reception seemed spotty at best.

Tapping the screen he attempted a call, he certainly didn’t have anything to lose, and with night falling he had time a plenty, and Yugo certainly wasn’t going to be going anywhere.

“Come on Yugo, pick up,” he grumbled as the screen flickered and static cackled across the screen, hissing softly.

No dice, a few times he thought he heard something through the static, but after several minutes of sitting and listening to static, he shut if off and stood up. On foot it was then, he just hoped he’d be able to find Sora without being caught.

 

Luck it seemed was on Yuri’s side, as he hadn’t been walking too long when he heard a familiar voice. Following the sound he found himself outside of a small, slightly run down house, Sora’s voice coming from inside.

“So this is where you’ve been hiding out,” he said, resting his arms on the windowsill. “Cozy place you have.”

Sora yelped, nearly falling off the chair he was sitting in as he spun around.

“What are you doing here?” he sputtered.

“Yugo?” asked one of the small kids that had been speaking with him.

Yuri scowled, “That’s just rude.”

“No, he’s not Yugo,” said the older boy.

“Thank you.”

“Obviously he’s Yugo’s brother.”

Yuri just about fell through the open window in shock; while Sora doubled over in a fit of uncontrolled giggles. “Yes, he’s Yugo’s brother!” he said quickly, before Yuri could say otherwise. Yuri shot him a dirty look as he took over the chair Sora had been sitting, having deftly slipped in though the open window while Sora was giggling.

“Yes, laugh it up you,” he huffed.

“You still didn’t answer my question though,” said Sora, once he caught his breath and got his laughter under control. “What are you doing here? And for that matter, how are you here?”

“Looking for you,” he said, leaning back in the chair. “To warn you.”

“About what, that I’m probably being hunted? No duh.”

“Not for the reason you think,” said Yuri, arms folded over his chest. “We were sold out, by Macfield.” Sora cast him a curious look and Yuri continued, “Didn’t you notice, he wasn’t around during the break-out. He was talking with that Roger person.”

“But why?”

Yuri sighed, “Who knows? I suspect he has ties to Academia. Or at least to the Fusion dimension. He seemed rather keen on getting the both of us, and wasn’t happy to learn you escaped. Not going to be happy that I got away either I’m sure.”

Sora hissed, that was going to make things far more difficult for him. “Are you sure?”

“No, at least I have no proof, but something about this situation is rotten,” said Yuri. “He seemed too calm for someone facing people from another dimension, or even just dealing with the news of their being another dimension.”

“So what do we do?” asked Sora.

“We? I’m leaving, I’ve had more than enough of this dimension,” said Yuri, moving to stand up. “You’re on your own. I gave you my warning.”

Sora’s hand shot out, grabbing Yuri by the sleeve, “Oh no, you’re not just leaving like that,” he said. “You’re helping me get everyone free. Or do you want me to tell Yugo that you bailed on him? Or Yuya that you left everyone high and dry?”

Yuri grimaced; he’d never live it down if that happened. “How are we going to get them anyways? They’re being held in the Top’s section of the city, we’re down here in the Common’s section. And then there’s the Security roaming around looking for us to deal with as well. We take one step in there and we’re good as done. Plus it’s late.”

“I did suggest a disguise,” pouted the girl.

Yuri glanced at the small trio, and then looked in Sora’s direction. “Who are they?”

“Crow’s kids. Frank, Amanda, Tanner.” He indicated to each in turn then gestured to Yuri. “This guy’s Yuri.”

Yuri sighed, resting his cheek in his hand, kids, that was just what they needed.

“You know, I don’t think even a disguise could mask that boorish attitude of yours,” he said. “You could never pass for a ‘Top’.”

“Oh, and you could?” snapped Sora.

Yuri straightened up with an almost cat-like grin. “As a matter of fact yes. I’ve been around people like that plenty. I might be able to pass as one of the Tops, the only thing you’d pass for is my servant.” He sighed, “But neither of us could pass, being duelists and all. One step in there and we’re made.”

Sora’s shoulder’s slumped, it was true; they’d be made in an instant if they tried to get in.

“But we have to, we have to rescue everyone,” said Sora. “Or at least Yugo and Rin.”

“And big bro Crow!”

“And Shinji!”

Sora paused for a moment. “Yeah, them too. Everyone it is then.” He yawned, “For now why don’t we sleep?”

Yuri nodded, “I don’t feel like running back there any time soon. And we can think of a way to get everyone free in the meantime.”

“I call dibs on the couch!” exclaimed Sora, bolting from the room before Yuri could stop him.


	36. Synchro Arc part 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *awkward cough* I, apologize in advance for this chapter.   
> RIP Sora's dignity.

Disguise them, that was what Amanda had said they were going to do. She just, hadn’t said how.

 

“I never agreed to this!” sputtered Sora.

“Sorraaa! Hold still,” whined Amanda.

“What do you think you’re doing with those? And why do you even have stuff that fits me?”

“Because Crow’s bad at clothes shopping. Now stop moving!”

“Wait, are those hair clips?”

 

“I cannot believe I’m letting you do this,” deadpanned Yuri. “Ow, stop pulling my hair, that’s not how you comb it.”

“He doesn’t look so scary like this,” giggled Tanner. “Right Frank?”

“Right.”

“This dimension is going to be the death of me.”

 

Shortly after breakfast, Amanda, Frank, and Tanner had pounced on Yuri and Sora, Amanda dragging Sora off while the boys took Yuri. Apparently the trio had spent the evening planning and scheming, and now it was time to set their plan into motion, whether the boys liked it or not.

 

Amanda skipped happily out of her room, humming to herself. “Come on Sora, you can come out.”

“No, I am not coming out like this.”

“Don’t be such a baby, besides I let you keep your leggings.”

“Yes, please do come out and show us your, disguise,” said Yuri in a teasing voice. The boys had finished with him a few minutes before Amanda had finished, so he was sitting in the kitchen, one leg folded over the other, chin resting in his hand. He’d since lost his cape and the jacket of his uniform, leaving him in his long-tailed waistcoat and trousers. His hair had been combed back, taming down all the bits that poked out. How long that would last was anyone’s guess. His duel disk sat on the table beside him and a pair of glasses were perched on his face.

Sora gave a muffled squeak, “This was a bad idea, I’m not coming out,” he said.

“Come on, I worked hard,” protested Amanda. “Please?”

“Yes Sora, I’m sure she worked very hard, you wouldn’t want to upset her would you?”

Sora grumbled and a door creaked open, “Fine, but if you say anything I swear to Ra.” On shaking feet he made his way into the room, wringing his hands nervously.

“Is that­–?”

“Yes.”

“Are those–?”

“Yes.”

“Are you wearing­–?”

“Yes!” Sora’s face flushed red as he stared at his feet. He couldn’t believe he was doing this.

His uniform had been traded in for a blouse and knee length pleated skirt, though he retained his leggings and shoes. His hair was down from its ponytail and tied back in a small braid while the rest of his hair was held back with hair clips. When he lifted his head it became apparent that Amanda had done more than that to him, his eye lashes looking darker and thicker than usual. Like Yuri, his duel disk was no longer on his arm, but in his hands.

“Well, at least you look the part,” said Yuri after a moment.

“Please don’t tell Crow about the makeup,” pleased Amanda, “He doesn’t know I have it. He said I couldn’t have any till I was older.”

“You better not tell anyone about this,” said Sora, glaring at Yuri.

Yuri smirked. “Oh I won’t have to tell anyone. After all, we’re going to be breaking them out, remember?”

Sora whimpered, that meant that everyone was going to see him like that. He was never going to live this down.

“I really don’t think these are going to fool anyone,” said Sora.

Yuri leaned back, “I think you give those guys to much credit.”

Frank came trotting back into the room, having left for a few minutes while they were talking. “Here, you can put your stuff in this,” he said, holding up a bag. “You’re gonna need them later.”

“I’m going to grab my clothes too,” said Sora, quickly darting out of the room. “So I can change later.” He retuned moments later, clothes hanging over his arms, before sitting down and setting about rolling them up so as to fit them snugly in the bag. “I still don’t think this is going to fool anyone.”

“Not if you keep talking like that,” said Yuri, uncrossing his legs and looking at Sora over the top of the glasses. “With a mouth like that you’ll never pass for a Top, especially here.”

“And you would know what to say?”

“As I told you before, yes. So stop doubting me, honestly.”

“Should we even be going back this soon?” asked Sora. “I mean the place will be crawling with Security. Even if we do get there without getting caught, we’d never get everyone out without getting caught.”

“Just leave everything to me.”

 

Sora fidgeted and tugged at the skirt as he walked, trailing a few steps behind Yuri. It was such an unusual sensation to not be trapped in a pair of pants. Maybe this was why the girls wore them, though he wasn’t sure he wanted to try wearing them without his leggings, especially if he had to jump or climb.

“So how do you know so much about high society anyways?” asked Sora. “You never said. Just that you’ve been around them before.”

“My parents,” replied Yuri. “Dragged me to more functions that I care to remember, and for each and everyone I had to act the part of a proper, good little boy.” He glanced back at Sora, “If I had been born in this dimension I would be what they call a ‘Top’.”

“So you’re a spoiled rich kid then,” said Sora. “Guess that explains a lot.”

“I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that.” Silence lingered for a moment before he spoke again, “Is that why you dislike me so much? Not that I really care, but I have noticed you don’t seem to like me.”

“Good eye. You’re right, I don’t like people like you, you’re arrogant and rude and act like you’re so much better than everyone else just because you have money and we don’t. Makes my life a nightmare.”

“Have you been talking to Yugo, I think you two would get along. In the mean time, you get to pretend to be a ‘Top’ for a time. Just try not to blow it.”

“If I knew what we were doing that would help.”

“Then just play along, I see our ticket in now.” He pointed ahead and Sora froze, it was an off duty Duel Runner.

“Are you mad?” he hissed.

“Probably.” He adjusted his glasses and cleared his throat as he approached the man. “Excuse me good sir,” he called out.

A chill ran through Sora when Yuri spoke, he sounded almost exactly like Yuya. The fact that he looked like Yuya was bad enough, but hearing him sound like Yuya was even more unnerving and he wasn’t sure he liked it. He sounded like Yuya to the point that if Sora closed his eyes, he could imagine Yuya there.

The man looked up at them and tensed for a moment. “Get out of here you brats,” he snapped. “Or I’ll have you arrested.”

“Please, we need your help,” said Yuri, feigning fear and clasping his hands together. “We were heading to the Friendship Cup to meet up with some friends but my, cousin,” he gestured to Sora, who hid his face behind a large lollipop (Yuri had no idea where he’d gotten it from as he was sure there was no candy in the bag and he hadn’t had it moments earlier) and fluttered his eyelashes teasingly. “Got sidetracked and we ended up down here.” He held his hands together tightly and offered up the largest, most pleading puppy dog eyes he could. “We could really use someone to escort us back home safely. Back Topside.”

Sora had to hide behind the lollipop to mask the look of awe on his face as he listened to Yuri talk. How on earth could he switch from, well, Yuri, to being so sweet?

Whatever he was doing seemed to be working though, as the longer he spoke the more the man seemed to consider his words.

“It would be a great help to us if you could help us get home.”

“What’s your name kid?”

Yuri hesitated for a moment, “Yuya. Sakaki Yuya sir.”

Sora blanched, was he serious, using Yuya’s name? He could hardly believe that their disguises were fooling this guy, but Yuri using Yuya’s name?

“And your cousin?”

“Oh, that’s, Serena. Hiragi Serena.”

Sora almost bit down on his sugary treat, was that really the best he could come up with, combing Yuzu’s name with one suspiciously similar to Selena’s?

“She’s a bit, shy around strangers,” added Yuri quickly.

The officer regarded them silently, running a hand through his hair. “I’m not really supposed to leave my post.”

Yuri looked up at the man with large, pleading eyes. “Please, it would really mean a lot if you helped us get home.”

Sora inched closer to Yuri, holding his arm with one hand and hiding his face behind the oversized sucker. “Please?” he asked, putting on the softest voice he could and fluttering his eyelashes innocently. “It’s really scary down here.”

The man sighed, “I really shouldn’t but, I’ll probably get I more trouble if they find out I left a pair of Tops’ kids down here. Come on, ”

“Ahhh! Oh thank you,” cheered Yuri, clapping his hands together.

“Come on, let’s get you two a ride back up there.”

Sora couldn’t believe it, it was actually working, somehow their disguises were actually fooling someone and they were going to go back to the Tops sector. Perhaps he just hadn’t heard about them yet to know what to look for. Whatever the case, it was working, and Sora was going to cling to this luck as long as he could.

 

“So, Yuya, really?” asked Sora, keeping his voice quiet as they rode in the back of the car, bag settled comfortably in his lap. “That’s what you went with?”

Yuri shrugged, “It worked didn’t it? Don’t complain.”

“I’m not, just surprised,” said Sora, swinging his feet back and forth. “So what do we do once we get there? The place will be swarming with Security. We got lucky with this guy, but someone is bound to notice.”

“Have a little faith.”

The man glanced back at them, “So, I’m going to drop you kids off at Security HQ, someone there should be able to help you find your folks alright?”

Yuri flashed his sweetest grin and threw on his ‘Yuya voice’ once again, “Thank you so much mister!”

Sora rolled his eyes, what a ham.

“So,” he asked, keeping his voice low, “Once we get there, how are we freeing everyone?”

“Just follow my lead.”

 

Yugo leaned against the window, bracing himself with his forearm as he stared out over the city. They’d gotten so close to freedom, and now they were back were they’d started, minus Sora, Dennis and Yuri.

Where had they even taken Yuri anyways, and why? When they’d been escorted back to their rooms he’d seen them grab and cuff Yuri before dragging the cursing Fusion duelist off.

If he hadn’t killed anyone yet it would be a miracle.

“Damnnit, what’s going on here?”

 

Losing the officer once they were dropped off wasn’t hard, though he did insist on walking them right to the Executive Security headquarters.

As soon as he was out of sight, the smile on Yuri’s face dropped, replaced with a scowl. “By Ra that was exhausting. Never make me do that again.”

“You? I’m the one in the skirt and mascara, all you had to do was smile and be nice. Now let’s just get this over with so I can change.”

Yuri smirked, “Yes, and you wear them well. Let’s hope your break and enter skills are as good as your breaking out skills.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In my own defence, when Sora first appeared I thought he was a girl. Having a female VA(dub and sub) does not help this any.
> 
>  
> 
> And yes, Yuri sounding like Yuya is a voice actor joke. I couldn't resist.


	37. Synchro Arc part 10

“If you keep rushing me we’ll never get in,” hissed Sora as his fingers flew across the screen of his duel disk, a thin cord connecting it to the panel on the door. “Just, make sure we’re not about to be interrupted ok?” He waved Yuri off with one hand, hoping he’d get the space to work. They hadn’t expected the main doors to be locked when they arrived, but they were, a new stumbling block. They really didn’t want anyone getting in or out, and neither wanted to wait for staff to come back and open the doors.

The security system was unfamiliar to him and far more complex than anything he’d practised on, so overriding the system locking the doors was taking longer than anticipated. And Yuri was getting impatient.

“Just pick up the pace alright? The sooner we get this done, the sooner I can leave,” grumbled Yuri, rubbing his head with one hand. “This dimension is giving me a headache.”

There was a successful beep and Sora punched the air. “Done!” He yanked the cord free and stood up as the doors slid open. “Now we just have to make sure none of the staff catches us,” he said as he dragged Yuri inside.

Yuri snorted, “Please, they’re practically servants, you could probably bribe them to look the other way.”

“As long as they don’t drag Security back here, again.”

“Don’t assault anyone and that shouldn’t be a problem,” he said. “Let’s just get everyone out,” said Yuri with a bored sigh. “After all, you still have to get everyone out of this section of the city as well.”

“Let’s just work on getting them out of their rooms first,” said Sora, charging up the stairs to where everyone was being kept.

 

Rin sat up at the sound of feet clattering across the floor and the distant chatter of voices. It didn’t sound like any of the people who worked there; of course they rarely talked as it was. Who ever this was, they were certainly carrying on.

Swinging her feet over the side of the bed she bounded to the door, pressing her ear to it for a better listen.

“No, we’re getting these doors open my way,” hissed the first voice. “I saw what you did to escape earlier, you’ll draw to much attention here.”

“Then why did you even bring me along if we can’t do this my way?”

“Because I can’t get everyone out alone obviously.”

It took a moment, but Rin soon recognized the voices.

“Yuri? Sora?” she asked. “Is that you? What are you doing?”

“Hopefully freeing everyone,” said Sora after a moment. “You wouldn’t know when the staff comes by would you?”

“Not for another few hours,” said Rin. “It’s too early.”

“Good, then we have time. So tell Yuri to stop rushing me.” He paused for a moment, “You think there’s a control panel around that controls all the doors, or am I going to have to do this one by one?”

 

A commotion outside his door roused Crow from his nap, having finally fallen asleep after spending most of the night awake. How could he sleep knowing his charges were alone? What if they were in danger? He couldn’t waste time being stuck there.

There was a click as he reached the door and the voices moved farther down the hall, or at least to the next room.

The door swung open as he twisted the knob and he found himself nearly face to face with Sora.

“Don’t you dare say anything,” grumbled Sora, glaring up at him as he unplugged his duel disk.

“I wasn’t,” he said, raising an eyebrow as he took in the young duelist’s, interesting appearance. “Though, why are you wearing Amanda’s hair barrettes?”

“It was her idea,” he sputtered indignantly, cheeks burning a deep red as he looked away from Crow.

“Well, you seem to have everything under control,” said Yuri, “So I will take my leave before this headache gets any worse.”

Without so much as another word, and before even Yugo could stop him, he was gone, though a rippling portal, his form flickering ever so slightly as he neared the portal.

Sora looked up at Crow, who was gaping silently at the sight and shook his head, “Don’t even ask.”

 

As Yuri stepped through the portal and into the Barian world he dropped to one knee, clutching his head as the pain intensified. Whatever was causing this; it was more than just from being cracked upside the head by a well-aimed fist. The pain was lasting far to long for it to be from something like that, and it was only growing in intensity.

After a moment he stood up, staggering towards the citadel. He only got a few steps when another wave of agonizing pain hit him and he dropped to both knees, clutching his head in both hands as he cried out in pain.

The last thing he was aware of before everything went dark was the sound of feet running towards him and someone calling his name.

 

Yuya felt Yuri before he heard him, his familiar energy blinking into existence the moment he stepped into the Barian world. Yuya didn’t give it much thought and returned to practice with Yuzu-something they were doing at Ruri’s suggestion-until he heard him cry out.

He sounded like he was in pain and when it stopped Yuya got very worried.

With Yuzu on his heels, Yuya took off in the direction of his energy.

“Yuri! Yuri!”

Something had to be very wrong for him to cry out like that, and Yuya hoped he was ok.

He found Yuri just in time to witness the kneeling Barian collapse into a heap on the ground.

“Yuzu, help me get him back,” he said, kneeling beside Yuri as he looked him over.

It was strange, physically he seemed fine, he didn’t appear to have any kinds of injuries whatsoever, and yet he’d collapsed.

“Do you think he was attacked?” asked Yuzu as they hauled Yuri up between them, one arm over each shoulder.

“I don’t know, he doesn’t seem to be hurt but, something had to have happened to him.”

Yuzu looked at Yuri worriedly, then back to Yuya, “You don’t suppose something went wrong in the Synchro dimension do you?” she asked. “And that’s why he came back?”

Yuya only shook his head, “I hope not. Once we get him back, we’ll check in with Yugo. I’m sure if things were bad we’d have heard by now right?”

“I-I suppose,” said Yuzu with a slow nod. “Maybe, maybe he’s just tired?”

Yuya laughed, “Maybe.”

As they neared the palace Yuya called out for Yuto, who helped them get Yuri somewhere more comfortable to rest. He agreed that Yuri was probably just exhausted, why he’d been in pain however he couldn’t guess.

“Let him sleep it off and we’ll ask him when he wakes up,” he said as they half dumped Yuri in bed.

With Yuri safely tucked away, Yuya found a quiet spot to sit and try and get in contact with Yugo. Surely if things were going bad Yugo or Rin would have said something right?

“Come on Yugo, pick up.” He tapped the static filled screen as he waited for a response, praying that nothing had happened to either of them.

“Eh? Yuya?” Yugo’s voice crackled through the static as his face appeared on the screen. “Is Yuri there, I have a few words for him!”

“It’ll have to wait, he’s resting,” said Yuya. “Is everything alright on your end?”

“Well, we’re not hurt if that’s what you mean, but we’ve been in better situations. Why?”

Yuya sighed, “It’s Yuri. He just sort of, collapsed, and it sounded like he was really hurting.”

Yugo frowned, “He collapsed? I know he’s been complaining about a headache for a while but, I’ve never heard of that happening.”

“Well, we’ll keep an eye on him, you guys just stay safe alright?”

“Oh don’t worry, we’re not planning on getting caught again anytime soon.”

“Wait, again? Yugo what are you talking about? Yugo!” The screen flashed blank before Yuya could get a response, Yugo getting him off mid-sentence. He sighed and leaned back against the wall, well at least they weren’t hurt, but it still didn’t explain what was wrong with Yuri.

‘ _I suppose we’re just going to have to wait,_ ’ he thought.

“So, did you find out anything?” asked Yuzu, sitting down beside him.

“Not really. Everything seems to be alright, though Yugo did say Yuri had been complaining of a headache,” said Yuya.

“You don’t usually faint because of a headache though,” said Yuzu.

Yuya sighed, “I guess we’ll have to ask him when he wakes up. Whenever that’ll be.”

“Why don’t we keep practicing in the meantime?” asked Yuzu. “It’ll do us some good.”

Yuya nodded, they’d spent the last while getting used to their Barian powers and how they worked, something they hadn’t had the time to do before.

“Come on,” she said, holding her hand out, “Let’s get back to work.”

 

Selena sighed, rubbing her head with one hand as she leaned on the railing. She wasn’t even sure when it had started, but her head ached like someone was drumming on the inside of her skull.

“I hope whatever’s causing these headaches isn’t contagious,” said Yuto.

“Oh?”

He nodded, “It seems like Yuri was suffering one too, and now he’s laid up in bed.”

“I’ll watch myself then,” she said. “Of course if it was, then you have nothing to worry about.”

“Hmm?”

“You had a headache not to long ago if I recall.”

“It was nothing,” replied Yuto defensively. “I simply overexerted myself.”

“I’m sure you did.”

He narrowed his eyes, “What is that supposed to mean?”

“It means I know a lie when I hear it Yuto,” she said, not even moving to look at him. “Keep your secrets if you will, but I hope your, exertion, doesn’t become a problem for us later.”

“It won’t.”

“You going to make nice with Yuri when he wakes up?” she asked, shifting around to look at him. “You can’t stay mad at him forever. He is an ally after all.”

Yuto folded his arms over his chest. “I don’t know it all depends on him.”

Somewhere in the rocks below them, the sound of Yuya and Yuzu practicing with Ruri, started up again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And Yuri finally bails on the Synchro dimension. Yugo is, not pleased. Yuri is, also out of commission for a bit. Don't worry, he'll be back.


	38. Synchro Arc part 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And apparently by 'be back' I mean he'll return in the next chapter pftt. 
> 
> Also the two parts in this chapter are meant to happen simultaneously. Yuri did not call twice.

_“Yuri come on, we’re going to be late!” A girl’s voice sounded as a hand grabbed his, dragging him down the docks. They ran towards the awaiting ship and the multitude of kids already aboard, the sounds of excited squeals and laughter filling the air._

_“Slow down,” he panted, only just barely keeping up with her, feeling his hand slipping from her grip._

_“Come on, aren’t you excited? This is gonna be so much fun!”_

_A grin flashed in his direction and Yuri returned the smile with glee, squeezing the hand holding his. He laughed, picking up the pace and running after her._

_Yuri shivered, holding his arms close as he looked around the large empty space. He was completely alone._

_“Where are you?” he asked, walking through the empty space. “Where did you go? Come back please. I don’t want to be alone.”_

 

Bits and pieces of a dream floated though Yuri’s memory as he draped his arms over his face; an outstretched hand, a voice calling his name, strong arms holding him back, screaming, tears and white light.

His rest had been anything but peaceful, tossing and turning as he slept, plagued by a feeling of dread, sadness and loneliness

The rational part of his mind told him to ignore it, it was a dream it wasn’t supposed to make sense. But a nagging feeling in his gut said there was more, that it wasn’t just a dream to be ignored. But he could barely remember it, let alone begin to understand it.

“It’s just a dream and I’m over thinking this,” he told himself as he closed his eyes. He opened is eyes again after a moment and brought a hand to his head as he sat up, his headache was all but gone, now nothing but a faint, dull throb.

Slowly he sat up, there were things he needed to do, he couldn’t spend any more time in bed.

Selena, he needed to speak with Selena. There was something, several things actually that he needed to ask, to confirm with her. He had to know it wasn’t just him.

Groaning, he rubbed his head as he stood up, trying in vain to remember his dream. It felt important, like something he needed to remember, like it was the thing he’d forgotten.

Still holding his head he stumbled from the room, using his other hand to navigate along the wall.

‘ _I wonder how I even got in here,_ ’ he thought as he walked. ‘ _Last thing I remember I was outside._ ’

“Yuri?”

‘ _Oh that’s just great._ ’ He lifted his head as he lowered his hand, sighing as he made eye contact with Yuto. “Come to yell at me some more?”

“No. What are you doing up, you should be resting.”

“Where’s Selena, I need to talk to her?”

Yuto blinked in surprise, “The last time I saw her she was on the balcony watching Yuya and Yuzu train but-”

“Thank you.” Straightening up, Yuri brushed past him.

“Hey, if you’re not going to rest you should at least fill us in on what happened in the Synchro dimension. You passed out, we were worried.”

Yuri paused, “We?”

Yuto hesitated, turning quickly so he didn’t have to face Yuri. “Of course, you are still our ally after all. I might be upset with you, but that doesn’t mean I want anything to happen to you.”

Yuri made a soft noise and if he’d had a mouth he might have smiled. “Well, gather everyone up and once I’m done talking with Selena we can talk.” He flicked his wings and continued on, heading towards the balcony and hoping she was still there.

“I thought you were resting,” said Selena, turning around and leaning back against the railing at the sound of his approach.

“I was, but it can wait. I needed to speak with you.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Me?”

“You’re the only one who can answer my questions,” he said as he moved to stand beside her, crossing his arms and resting them on the rail. “Selena, do you remember your first day at Duel Academy?”

Selena stared at him before snorting, “My first day? Why would you ask about that?”

“Do you remember it?”

“Of course I do!” she snapped. “What sort of a dumb question is that?”

“Tell me about it.”

Selena grew quiet. “Why?”

“Humour me. Your first day, what was it like?”

“It was, normal. You know, exciting and nerve wracking.”

Yuri snorted and shook his head, “You don’t remember do you?”

Selena hardened her gaze, curling her hands tightly. “Fine, so maybe I don’t. It was years ago, you can’t honestly expect me to remember something like that.”

“Are you sure? I bet if I asked Sora about his first day at Duel Academy he’d remember. Or Yuto about his first day at Heartland Academy.” He sighed, “And it’s not just you, I can’t remember either. I can remember spending years at the Academy, but I cannot remember the day I got there. Don’t you think that’s just a bit strange? Something that big and important, and we can’t remember it?”

“What are you getting at?”

“Honestly, I don’t know. But every time I try to remember, I can’t. I can remember fragments of something, but I don’t know if it’s my first day or not.” He made a noise like a hoarse laugh and shook his head. “I have one other question for you. Though it might be more, personal.”

“More personal than my first day of school?”

“It all depends on you,” he said, shrugging. “Selena, how did you die?”

That brought her into silence as she averted her gaze from his. “Why do you want to know?”

Yuri shrugged, “We’re all going to find out what happened to one another sooner or later. Might as well break the ice between us here and now right?” He paused, “I’ll tell you what happened to me if you tell me what happened to you.”

Selena gripped her arms tightly, staring at a spot on the ground. “I drowned,” she said after a moment.

Yuri lifted his head and looked over at her. “Drowned?”

Selena nodded, “You know how I told you that I was locked up? There was one night I wasn’t. There was no one watching my room that night and I escaped. All I wanted was to show The Professor how good I was, I wanted to prove myself.” She sighed and shook her head, nails digging into her arms as she held them close. “But there was a storm, and the boat I stole capsized. I ended up tangled in an anchor line and, I drowned. The next thing I knew I woke up here.”

Yuri gripped the bar tightly, cracks spidering out through the crystal where his fingers dug in. He’d been so hoping he was wrong, that it hadn’t been her.

“So what about you?” she asked. “How did you, end up here?”

“I was betrayed by the Professor. He had me, carded.”

Her head jerked up and she looked over at him, eyes wide. “What? How come?”

Before he could answer several voices sounded from inside, joined by the sound of feet on stone.

“Another time, it seems we’re in for a meeting.” He moved back from the railing, straightening up before he went inside, Selena following right behind him.

“How are you feeling?” asked Yuya. “You didn’t look so good earlier.”

“Better, thank you.”

“What happened?”

“I may have used my powers a bit to much, outside of this dimension,” he admitted. “I think it was just fatigue, coupled with a bad headache.”

“Wait you what?” sputtered Yuto.

“I was in a pinch, I had to,” said Yuri, leaning away from Yuto and making a mock ear cleaning motion. “And don’t yell, you’ll make my head hurt again.”

Yuto glared at him, arms folded across his chest, before shaking his head. “You said you’d tell us about what happened in the Synchro dimension.”

Yuri waved dismissively, “I did, I did. But first, we need to get Yugo in on this. There’s something I forgot to ask him.”

“And you can’t ask us?” asked Yuto, crossing his arms.

“Do you know anything about the Synchro dimension? Or a Jean-Michel Roger?” There was a chorus of murmurs and headshakes and Yuri nodded, “I thought not, then we need Yugo. And while we wait for him to pick up,” he pulled a card out from his disk, flicking it towards Yuya.

“What’s this?”

“It’s something Akaba Reiji cooked up. Put it in your disk and you’ll be able to duel in the other dimensions, using their Solid Vision systems. It’s called ‘Cross Over’, think of it as a portable action field,” explained Yuri. “It also allows you to travel between dimensions but, I think you can manage that without it.”

“So why give it to me?” asked Yuya.

“Because I have no intention of setting foot in that dimension again. So you might as well hold onto it and do with it as you wish. Give it someone else for all I care.”

“Yuri? Oi Yuri, if you’re going to call me up have the decency to answer!” Yugo’s voice screeched from the duel disk and Yuri winced, covering one ear with his hand.

“So I got through after all.”

“What do you want? I’m a bit busy at the moment.”

“Jean-Michel Roger.”

Yugo frowned, “Guy’s an asshole, what about him?”

“There’s something about him that doesn’t sit right with me. What do you know about him?”

“Who’s this Roger fellow?” asked Yuto.

“He’s the head of the Security division,” said Yugo with a sigh. “They’re, basically the police force,” he quickly clarified when he earned a few mystified expressions. “There’s not much to know, aside from being a huge pain the sides of the Commons he also helped improve the Solid Vision system for duels. So I guess that’s one good thing.” He rubbed the back of his head; “He came so long ago so, I don’t remember what it was like before him. Just that he’s only made it worse since becoming Security Director.”

“10 years,” came another voice from somewhere off screen. “He came here 10 yeas ago and made everything even worse for us.”

“Wait, who else is there?” asked Yuto, eyes suddenly wide.

“Ah that’s Crow, he’s helping us,” said Yugo. He looked over at the unseen speaker, “What do you mean?”

Crow sighed, “I was only about 10 when he came, but, there was never a curfew before he arrived. After upgrading the Solid Vision system he took a place in the Security Bureau and quickly rose to the top. One of the first things he did as head was institute the curfew.”

“A curfew, that’s horrible,” gasped Yuzu.

“And he made the punishments for breaking laws even harsher. Not to mention that Solid Vision he brought with him, it was the real deal, Real Solid Vision he called it. Made getting away from the Security Corps even more difficult. They weren’t simple holograms anymore.”

Yuri tapped his chin thoughtfully, so this Roger had knowledge of the Solid Vision system and how they worked. “Do you know where he came from before he came to your city?” he asked.

Yugo shrugged before looking at Crow. There was a long silence, filled only by the ‘hmming’ and ‘hawing’ of an unseen Crow. “No, I don’t actually,” he said finally. “I always just assumed another city. Why, is it important?”

“It might be,” said Yuri. “That’s all I needed.” The screen turned dark and he lowered his arm.

“So what was that about?” asked Yuto. “From what I can tell, that didn’t accomplish anything.”

“This Roger man, he seemed too calm for someone just learning about the existence of other dimensions and meeting visitors from another dimension. In fact, he seemed almost prepared for us. With two exceptions, he managed to round up every last one of us that went there. It’s suspicious to be certain.”

“What are you saying?” asked Yuya. “That he knew?”

Yuri folded his arms, leaning against the wall, “Not just that. I suspect he is from the Fusion dimension. And if not that, then at he’s least an ally of it. And with what Crow told us, only makes me even more sure of this.” He looked towards Yuya, “Yuya, your mother said that your old man had a hand in that dimension’s Solid Vision system correct?” Yuya nodded. “Do you know when that was?”

He shook his head, “No, it was news to me. Probably before I was born.”

“So, Standard dimension develops state of the art, highly advanced Solid Vision. Then, a little after that, one of its creators brings this system to the Fusion dimension. Then 10 years ago the Synchro dimension also comes into possession of this technology from someone of unknown origins. Doesn’t that seem, a little suspect to you?”

“It does seem a bit odd,” agreed Yuya.

“What about our home?” asked Ruri. “We’ve had Solid Vision for years, on top of a sate of the art AR system for dueling. The invasion was our first contact with another dimension.”

“A fluke, but you did get dimensional transport from them as a result, if Kurosaki’s presence in Standard was any indication,” said Yuri. “And there’s one more thing that makes me suspicious of him, who he’s working with.”

“What do you mean?” asked Yuya.

Yuri sighed, “One of the, allies, that Akaba Reiji brought with us to the Synchro dimension, isn’t. He’s a mole for Fusion, and he seems to have allied himself with Roger, by selling out Shiunin and I.” He turned his gaze back to Yuya, “Yuya, if you do head into that dimension, whatever you do, do not trust Dennis Macfield. I don’t care what he says or does or how kind he acts, he cannot be trusted.”

Yuya gulped, “He’s that bad?”

“For us, yes.”

“Does Sora know?”

Yuri nodded, “He does, I warned him before I left. But Security is still looking for us to take to Roger.”

“And do what?” asked Yuzu.

Yuri shook his head, “Hand us over to The Professor of course. And I don’t want to know what’ll happen then.”

“So, Roger aside, what else went down in that dimension to make you have to use your powers?” asked Yuto, “Because I thought you were smarter than that.”

Yuri sighed and shrugged, “Well, I have the time, I _suppose_ I could indulge you.”

 

Yugo sighed and leaned against the wall, sinking to the ground. Who knew running and hiding could be so exhausting?

After Sora had freed everyone from their rooms (and after he took a few minutes to change clothes), they made a break for it outside. It wouldn’t be long before someone noticed they were missing, if someone hadn’t already, so they needed to move fast. Which wasn’t easy the size of group they had, so they decided to split up.

“I need to get to the Underground,” said Yugo. That earned him a set of very confused looks from Shinji and Crow, and perplexed shrugs from the non-Synchro natives.

“That’s easy, let yourself get caught,” said Shinji.

“I need to get in and out,” clarified Yugo with a roll of his eyes. “Which means I need to break in.”

“Why would you want to do that?” asked Crow with a frown.

“I have my reasons.” He pointed at Shinji, “You know the way, you took Rin on that, failed breakout. Think you could take me?”

“I’d need my ride, or else we’d never get down there before we got caught,” he said, folding his arms over his chest. “And it’s not really meant to be a two seater.”

“Well I do have my own ride,” said Yugo. “So that’s not a problem.”

Rin folded her arms over her chest with a disapproving frown. “Yugo, it’s not even here.”

“But it will be.”

“How, you left it in Standard remember? And it can’t jump dimensions.”

“But I can.”

Rin sighed and rubbed her forehead, “Yugo, we don’t have time for you to go back and get it.”

“Who said I was?”

“What the heck are you talking about?”

Yugo grinned, “Rin, have some faith in me. I mean I did help you build Crystalwing. And Clear Wing. Also, you may want to take a step back.” Whatever he was going to say or do was interrupted when his duel disk started beeping and Yuri’s voice sounded from it. Yugo had to dive to keep anyone from seeing the screen, or at least to keep Crow and Shinji from seeing it; he really didn’t want to have to explain about a Barian-faced Yuri.

It seemed he wanted to know about Roger, a subject Crow happily educated him on as Yugo barely remembered life before he’d arrived.

He sighed as the screen went dark and Yuri ended the call.

Yugo cracked his hands together, “Ok, with that taken care of let’s do this.”


	39. Synchro Arc part 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In all the hype of the reveal of Yusaku Fujiki(the protagonist for the upcoming YGO series) and my hype over Welcome to Nightvale's 100th episode (and my exhaustion of 10 hour shifts), I almost forgot about this.   
> Oops.
> 
> But that new protag though.

By ‘this’, Yugo meant pull off an incredibly daring, and in Rin’s opinion stupid, stunt.

When they’d been building the D-Wheel, one of things they’d done was synch it up to his duel disk so that he could call it to his side remotely as long as he was close enough. Obviously enough, as Rin pointed out, it could not hop dimensions, so calling it into another dimension was impossible.

But Yugo could, in multiples ways now, and this time he was going to take a leaf from Yuri’s book and throw discretion to the wind and utilize some of his powers.

As soon as Rin saw the portal open up she hid her face in her hand, no there was no way he was going to try what she thought he was about to do.

Reactions to the portal were mixed, from awe to confusion to interest, to Sawatari trying to poke it until Shun hauled him back by the collar.

And then she heard it, the familiar rumbling of an engine from the other side of the portal.

‘ _Oh dear lord he’s actually doing it._ ’

Taking a step to the side, one hand still on his duel disk, Yugo grinned widely as the rumbling got louder, and a large white, green and gold cycle ripped through the portal and across the ground.

Yugo punched the air, the portal behind him vanishing with a pop and the D-Wheel making a hairpin turn as it skidded to a stop a few feet away.

“Aww yeah, it worked!”

“I can’t believe you just did that,” sighed Rin, rubbing her forehead with her fingers.

“I can, and it was awesome.” With a grin he bolted towards his D-Wheel, practically hugging it when he reached it. “Now we can go and get Shinji and Crow’s D-Wheels, they’re probably at the impound or something.”

Sora looked from Yugo, and then back at the remains of their group, which now consisted of himself, Shun, Sawatari, Gongenzaka, Rin, Shinji and Crow.

“Yeah about that, how are we getting down there? It’s not like we can all fit on your ride. Remember, we’re being chased.”

“Shinji and I can go,” said Crow. “Once we have rides we’ll come back for you and get you to safety. Unless you think you can lead this lot back to my hideout on your own. You evidently know the way.”

“Yeah, but I doubt they could keep up. Or at least most of them couldn’t.” He made a point at looking over at Sawatari. He had no doubt that Shun could follow him over the rooftops, but Sawatari and Gongenzaka? They were a lot less likely.

“Crow, there’s somewhere I need to go as well. I know the way, but there’s no way to go on my own, not without getting caught. When you get back, would you be able to take me? I’m afraid it’s the opposite direction from where Yugo needs to go.”

Sora sighed, “I guess Kurosaki and I can get these guys hidden somewhere,” he said.

“We’ll have to split up then,” said Crow. “Yugo and Rin are to come with Shinji and I, Sora, you and Kurosaki take everyone else and find somewhere to hide. Think you can do that?”

Shun glanced at the small group, then back to Crow and nodded, “We’ll manage.”

“You know,” mused Sora as Crow’s group headed off. “If Shingo lost the duel disk he could probably pass for a Top, he certainly has the attitude for it. Maybe we could work with that?”

“Oi! And why would I have to get rid of my disk?”

“Because that’s the only thing giving you away right now. In case you didn’t notice, Tops don’t really duel,” replied Sora, rolling his eyes. “It’s something Yugo told me, that it’s mainly the Commons who duel. If it worked for Yuri and I, it should work for you. Even more so since you are basically Standard’s version of a Top.”

Sawatari rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he let Sora’s suggestion sink in, maybe it did have some merit.

 

Jean-Michal Roger steeped his fingers together under his chin as he studied the screen before him. Somehow, all their ‘guests’ had gotten out of their rooms and were loose in the city. His frowned deepened as he watched the dimensional anomaly vanish from the screen, since the break out there had been several of these anomalies. Investigation of the first one was what had revealed their missing captives.

The only ones whose whereabouts he still knew of where Akaba Reiji, who was still locked in debate with the council, and Dennis Macfield, who was acting as a ride along with Security.

The last anomaly vanished from the screen and he debated on sending Security out to the spot. He didn’t want a repeat of last time, getting there to find nothing, but if they were there he wanted them captured. Was it worth wasting time and resources?

He sighed, they were near the Tops sector, someone was bound to see them and report them, which would make capturing them easier.

Reaching over he pressed a button, “Alert all on duty Security in the western sector of the Tops section to be on the lookout for our escaped guests,” he said, sounding almost bored.

“Yes sir, right away!” came the voice of a tech on the other end.

“You all can run, but you can’t run forever. Any enemy of the Fusion dimension is an enemy of the Synchro dimension.”

He picked up a piece from his nearby chessboard, a white knight. Of course if it did come to it, he still had one more piece to play, his most powerful enforcer. That was an absolute last resort however, he hoped to catch them alive, which might not happen if _he_ was let loose on them.

 

“Shiunin, if we make it out of this dimension alive, I will kill you.”

“Not before I kill him,” replied Sora, looking ahead towards Sawatari, who led their small troupe of four through the streets. “I regret ever opening my mouth about this.”

Sawatari, after very little time of thinking it over, decided that Sora’s suggestion of playing the part of a Top was a good one. And after handing over his duel disk, which was now safely in the bottom of Sora’s bag, he fell right into the role, deciding that Sora, Shun and Gongenzaka were his hired strength, to keep him safe from ‘unsavory types’.

Unfortunately, he treated them as such, bossing them around every step he took.

“Do you ever stop talking?” asked Sora. “And do you even have any idea where we’re going?”

“To find somewhere to lie low for a bit of course,” replied Sawatari, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

“So shouldn’t we be heading the other way, and not into the Tops section?” asked Sora. “Like we were going to?”

Sawatari waggled his index finger back and forth, “But that would be the first place they’d look for us now wouldn’t it? They’d never think to look for us in the Tops section. Then once we’re safe, we can figure out to find Akaba Reiji.”

Sora stared, “Huh, that’s actually a smart idea. But what are you going to do when we find him?” he asked. “If he’s with those Council guys they’ll lock us up again.” It was the Council and Roger that had put them in that penthouse in the first place, and no one was eager to go back.

“Gongenzaka the Man thinks we should hide instead,” said Gongenzaka, folding his over his chest with a nod. “We don’t want to attract their attention after all.”

Sawatari scowled, “I thought you were supposed to listen to me?”

“Why don’t we try not drawing attention to ourselves?” suggested Shun. “We’ll draw Security’s eye to us if we make a scene.”

“I guess,” huffed Sawatari. “But you still have to do what I say. And right now I say we're going to try to find Akaba Reiji.”

 

“Yugo, stop the bike,” said Rin with a sigh.

“Eh? Why?” It wasn’t like he was going all that fast, needing to go slow enough that Shinji and Crow could keep up with him.

“I need to talk with Shinji. I’m tired of this silent treatment and thinking I did something I didn’t do.”

Yugo frowned and turned to look at his passenger, “And what are you going to tell him?”

“The truth.”

“Rin! You can’t!”

She folded her arms over her chest with a scowl, “And why not? Ruri told Shun. If they’re going to help us then they might as well know.”

“Know what?” demanded Shinji.

“The truth about what happened that night,” said Rin. “When the breakout went south. Or at least, what happened to me.”

Yugo’s D-Wheel rolled to a halt and Rin hopped off, tucking her helmet under her arm as she strode towards Shinji.

“My death wasn’t faked Shinji,” she said, leveling her gaze with his, amber eyes firm. “It couldn’t have been. Because I died in that crash.”


	40. Synchro Arc part 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh hey look, I remember that this /is/ a YGO fic so duels should be a thing that happens, sometimes.  
> I just wish there was more support for Wind Witches, it's hard to write a duel with them with the few that exist(I had to pretend that Rin has Glass Bell in her deck).
> 
> I hope everyone's having a great holiday. ^w^

For a moment Shinji said nothing, then he shook his head, “That’s impossible, you’re standing right in front of me, alive. You never died in that crash, you couldn’t have.”

“I think the Duel Runner I cashed into would beg to differ,” said Rin. “Shinji, did you ever hear the stories about the ‘Netherworld’?”

He raised an eyebrow, “Of course, who hasn’t? They’re kids stories and nothing more.”

“They’re not stories. At least not entirely.”

“Rin, are you sure?” asked Yugo. “Do you want to go through with this?”

“If it clears the air, yes.”

Yugo sighed, “Alright. But if they end up thinking we’re crazy it’s your fault.”

“What do you mean they’re not stories?” asked Crow.

Rin sighed, “It’s not called the Netherworld, it’s called the Barian World, and it’s very much a real place.”

Shinji scowled, crossing his arms.

“It’s true,” said Yugo. “I’ve been there too.”

Crow and Shinji turned their attention to him and he sighed. “No one let me out of the Underground Facility. I died down there.”

“You expect me to believe that you both died and came back to life?”

Yugo glanced behind him at Rin. “Rin, are we even technically alive? I mean I haven’t needed to eat or drink since we came back, and I barely sleep. Does that even count as being alive?”

Rin shrugged, “I never thought about it, but probably not.”

“I guess that would make us undead huh?”

“Crow, you can’t honestly think they’re telling the truth about this?” asked Shinji. “Dying and coming back to life?”

“I can prove it,” said Rin.

That brought a silence to the group as three sets of eyes turned to look at her.

“How?” asked Yugo.

“The same way Ruri proved it to her bother,” said Rin. “We show them what we are.”

“You can’t be serious.”

“I am.”

“How? I don’t think taking them there is a good idea. We don’t know what that’ll do to a normal human.”

Rin shook he head, “Didn’t you hear me? I said the same way Ruri proved it to Shun. We don’t have to take them to show them.”

Yugo sighed, taking his helmet off as the air rippled behind Rin.

 

“Sir! Sir we’re picking it up again!” exclaimed one of the techs.

Roger lifted his head, chin resting on his hands. “What’s happening?”

“It’s a dimensional anomaly, we’re picking one up not far from the Executive Council building.”

“I see.” He reached over, pressing a button. “Send word to nearby Duel Runners to head there immediately. And bring anyone there into custody.”

“Yes sir, right away.”

‘ _I don’t know what you’re up to, but you will not escape me._ ’

 

Shinji and Crow could barely believe what they’d seen as they walked in silence beside Rin and Yugo. It was impossible, but there was no other explanation for what they’d just seen. She’d opened up a sort of, portal behind her, much like Yuri had, but unlike him she didn’t walk through it. She stood in front of it and her form changed to something mouthless and studded with what looked like blue and green gems, Yugo too.

Crow had thought he’d seem something happen to him when he’d seen Yuri walk through, but assumed his eyes were playing tricks. Now he wasn’t so sure that was the case.

“So you really died huh?” asked Crow, running a hand through his hair.

“We both did,” said Yugo with a nod. “Rin died in the crash. I died in the underground Garbage Facility.” He tightened his grip on the handlebars until Rin placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“So, what about that other guy, the uh, the one with the purple hair that looks like you? He one of you too?” asked Crow.

Yugo nodded, “You mean Yuri? Yeah, he’s in the same sinking ship we are.”

“So, is he like your brother or cousin or something?”

Crystal Wing screeched to a dead halt as Yugo slammed on the brakes. “What? No he’s not, we’re not related. He’s not even from this dimension. He’s barely my friend. He’s a Fusion user.”

“I thought they were the enemy?” said Shinji. “That’s what I heard when we were in front of the council.”

“It’s complicated. He’s sort of, a defector? Sora too.”

“Yugo shush a minute,” hushed Rin, leaning on his head as she turned around. “I thought I heard something.”

There was quiet for a moment before Rin whipped around, “Gun it Yugo, I hear sirens heading this way.”

“What about them?” he asked, pointing at Shinji and Crow. “We can’t leave them behind.”

Rin studied them for a moment, then the area behind them. With a sigh she cracked her fingers before climbing off the D-Wheel, turning to face whomever was chasing them.

“Fine. You take them and get out of here, let me take care of these guys. I can stall for time.”

“Rin–”

“Just go Yugo! I can handle Security. I promise.”

“Be careful, ok?”

She nodded, “I will, I’ll catch you later Yugo, alright?”

“Fine. You two, you heard the lady, get one and let’s move.” He jerked his thumb over his shoulder to the empty space behind him. “And don’t fall off.”

As Yugo sped off with Shinji and Crow crammed on the back of his D-Wheel, Rin turned to face her opponents, duel disk blade flashing into existence.

“Alright you, let’s see what you’ve got.”

A lone Duel Chaser sped down the laneway towards her, siren blaring and light flashing.

“So, looks like it’ll be one on one,” she said, moving to stand in the middle of the road. “If you want to get to my friends, you’ll have to get through me first!”

He slowed as he neared Rin and she took the opportunity to initiate the duel.

 

ACTION FIELD: CROSS OVER

 

A veil of blue light spread over the field and small, floating boxes appeared, popping up like hovering stepping-stones. Once complete, a flurry of action cards burst forth, scattering across the field.

The Duel Runner skidded to a stop a few feet from her, the rider caught off guard by the action field around him.

“Not so fun, getting forced into a duel against your will isn’t it?” she said, taking a step back. “Let’s see how you like it!”

“You don’t even have a D-Wheel, how can you hope to outrun me?”

Rin smirked. “Easily. First I activate the spell card Wind-Calling Bell Chime! Since I have one Wind Witch-Ice Bell in my hand, I can special summon another from my deck. Then I summon the Ice Bell in my hand to the field!”

A pair of broomstick riding witches, one with mint-green hair and one with deep blue hair, appeared on Rin’s side of the field, giggling softly.

“Next I activate my Ice Bells’ effects, allowing me to deal 500 points of damage to you directly.”

Twisting around to face the officer, the twin monsters loosed a dual attack, a blizzard of ice-cold winds and shards of ice slamming into her opponent.

“And because I control two Wind Witch monsters I can summon the Tuner monster Wind Witch-Snow Bell from my hand!”

While the first two Wind Witches looked like witches, Snow Bell looked more like a bell, very round bodied, topped with a gem and a pair of wings.

“Tuner monster‽”

Rin grinned, “Not used to Commons fighting back are you? Now, I tune my two level-3 Ice Bells to my level-1 Snow Bell!”

 

_Midwinter wind. Make ice and snow my power and blow through!_

_Synchro Summon!_

_Appear! Level 7!_

_Wind Witch - Winter Bell!_

 

A new monster appeared on the field, long wing-like blades for arms and a sort of fin where the legs should have been. Shimmering blue lines traced through its body, glowing brightly as it landed beside her.

“Then I activate Winter Bell’s special ability. I target one of the Ice Bell’s in my Graveyard and give it’s ability to Winter Bell, allowing me to hit you for another 500 points of damage!”

Winter Bell howled, releasing another attack on the Security Runner, knocking him down to 2500 life points.

“So, if you want to stop me and my friends, you’ll need to catch me first,” she said, hopping onto Winter Bell’s arm. “Like I said, I don’t need a D-Wheel to do this. I set one card, and end my turn.”

With that, Winter Bell sped off down the lane way, Rin laughing as she held on. “Eat my dust Security dog!”

The D-Wheel’s engine revved as he sped off after her.

“I summon Jutte Lord from my hand, and through it’s effect summon the Tuner monster Jutte Fighter from my hand.”

Two monsters materialized in the air behind him, one cloaked in a long robe with white and red face make up, the other resembling a short, bespectacled man, lack hair in a tight bun.

“Now I tune my level-4 Jutte Lord with my level-3 Jutte Fighter! Come forth, level 7, Goyo Guardian!”

With a thunderous cry the Synchro monster appeared on the field, swinging around its whip-like weapon.

She smirked, “I activate my face down, Bewildering Wind. Since you just special summoned a monster, I can negate it’s ability and halve its attack points.”

Goyo Guardian gave a pathetic sounding cry as a thick, dark fog consumed it, dropping its attack all the way down to 1400.

The Security officer gritted his teeth, eyes flicking down to the cards in his hand in annoyance.

“I end my turn.”

Rin’s grin widened, “And that’s going to be your last turn. First, I summon Wind Witch-Glass Bell!”

Another broom riding, blue haired witch appeared on the field beside Rin, giggling happily.

Rin leapt from Winter Bell and on to one of the floating platforms. She’d seen them doing this in those Action Duels in Standard, if this worked the same way, then it stood to reason there would be action cards as well.

With Winter Bell and Glass Bell tailing behind her, she leapt from platform to platform, heading the opposite direction down the lane way. Below she heard the squeal of tires as the Duel Runner screeched to a halt to turn around and follow her.

Scanning the area she caught sight of one on the edge of a platform.

“Perfect!”

She leapt, grabbing the card before landing down on Winter Bell’s shoulder.

“I activate the Action Spell Power Crystal! I target my Winter Bell and raise its attack points by 800 points!”

Winter Bell glowed brightly for a moment as her attack rose to 3200 points.

“Now Winter Bell, attack Goyo Guardian! Ringing Blizzard Gale!”

A chime echoed through the air as a blast of frosty air was loosed towards the hapless monster, destroying it in a gust of wind and ice.

“Then, I activate Winter Bell’s effect and copy the effect of the other Ice Bell in my graveyard, dealing you 500 more points of damage!”

The duel Runner swerved and shook as it was assaulted by another wave of snowy wind.

“And finally, Glass Bell will attack you directly!”

 

From a near by rooftop, a lone figure watched as the duel drew to a close, the D-Wheel mounted Security officer spinning out as the last attack wiped out his life points and he slammed the brakes to avoid the very large hole in the middle of the road left by the attack, while Rin sped off, still riding her monster.

Satisfied with the outcome they slipped off into the shadows, and vanished without a trace. There were still a few more individuals they needed to check on before returning with a report. Akaba Reiji was sure to want to hear about what he’d seen and learned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I jut want to say a HUGE thank you to all my readers. I cannot believe that, 40 chapters and over 80k words later you're still here, reading along, and wanting more.  
> I honestly didn't expect this to be so well received, or that I would still be writing and updating this nearly 9 months later.   
> Just, thank you guys, all your support means a lot. <3
> 
> At the time of writing this I am just shy of hitting 100k on this fic. And not yet done.   
> I hope I can continue to make this enjoyable for you and that you continue to stick with me.


	41. Synchro Arc part 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was lost in Alola and almost forgot it was Saturday and that I needed to update this. Oops.  
> Here you go.

Alighting on the roof with the grace and silence of the cat, Tsukikage straightened up as he faced his boss, Akaba Reiji.

“Have you been able to find them?” he asked.

The ninja nodded, “Everyone except for Yuri is accounted for sir. He seems to have vanished while inside the penthouse.”

“I suspect that he may have returned to his world.”

“The Fusion dimension?”

Reiji shook his head, “No, the Barian World.”

“I, also bring some troubling news.”

“Oh?”

“Jean-Michel Roger, is an ally of the Fusion dimension, as is Dennis Macfield, and they are working together.”

Reiji frowned, that was troubling news indeed, and it only served to confirm the suspicions he’d had about them both.

It hadn’t escaped his notice how Shun, Sora and Yuri had been giving Dennis a wide berth, and Shun in particular seemed as if he was intent on glaring him to death. And Roger, when he realized that Roger had managed to capture every one of the Lancers he knew something was up. There was no way it was a coincidence, it was just too good.

“Macfield is, at the moment, riding with Security to track down Shiunin Sora and Yuri,” continued Tsukikage.

“And Sora’s whereabouts?”

“In the Tops sector, alongside Kurosaki Shun, Sawatari Shingo and Noboru Gongenzaka.”

“What about Crow? And Shinji?” came a small voice from Reiji’s side. Reira looked up at Tsukikage with wide eyes, slowly letting go of his brother’s arm. “Are they, ok?”

Tsukikage crouched down, resting an arm on his knee. “Are you worried about them?”

Reira nodded, “They were, nice to me. And their kids, they were nice too. I want them to be ok.”

His mask creased with a hidden smile as he placed a reassuring hand on Reira’s head. “Do not worry, they are safe. They are in the company of Yugo and Miss Rin.” He looked up at Reiji as he stood back up. “It sounded as if they were planning on splitting up, it will make keeping an eye on them difficult.”

“If they could split up, follow the boy.”

“Of course, but why?”

“He is likely like Yuya and Yuri, a ‘Barian’. I wish to know more about the crystals that appeared in Standard but they would not tell me. If you follow him we may learn more. These crystals are of interest to my father, so they are of interest to me as well.”

Tsukikage nodded, “Very well, I will keep them in my sights.”

“Come Reira, we must be getting back, before the Council wonders why our break is running so long.” He placed a hand on Reira’s shoulder, gently steering him back towards the roof top door they’d come out.

By the time Reira looked back, Tsukikage was gone, vanishing without a sound, like smoke in the wind.

Keeping Reira close, Reiji steeled himself as they headed back inside, so, Roger was Fusion was he? As it stood the council was either so inept that they failed to know what someone that high up their ranks was, or they did know and didn’t care. No matter what it was, it was a problem for them. And with his Lancers now loose, he was going to have to be extra careful.

 

“I think we should go Yuzu. To Synchro I mean,” said Yuya, looking up from the card Yuri had given him and over to Yuzu. “There’s nothing we can do sitting around here, and they might need our help. Synchro, it sounded like a tough place, they’ll need all the help they can get.”

“It could be dangerous,” said Yuzu.

“Everything’s already dangerous,” replied Yuya with a sigh. “Besides, if we see the crystals maybe we can help Yugo with them, maybe figure out what it was we did.”

Yuzu reached over, placing a hand on his comfortingly, “Then I’m with you. After all, someone has to keep you out of trouble.”

“Yuzu!”

She laughed, “Well it’s true. You can be a handful sometimes.”

He sighed and looked down at the card, “I guess this is our ticket to the Synchro dimension. But there’s only one.” He looked up at Yuzu, “I suppose you’d better hold on if you’re coming with me.”

He slipped the card into his duel disk as Yuri had instructed him to do earlier, and the words ‘Synchro’ flashed up on the screen.

“I hope we don’t regret this,” he said, looking at Yuzu as he held out his other hand to her.

“Me too.”

With Yuzu securely at his side, he pressed the screen on his disk and they vanished in a shimmer of blue light.

 

Yuri watched silently from a distance as Yuya and Yuzu took off for Synchro. After the conversation with Yugo and Crow, he’d given them the run down on what he did know about the dimension-such as the curfew, the Tops and Commons split and the D-Wheel riding Security. Even though they’d never said it to him directly, he knew from how they asked about it that they were planning on going. Or at least Yuya was.

‘ _Well I hope they fare better than I did,_ ’ he thought, looking away from the empty space where they’d been moments before.

“And you can stop spying on me Selena.”

“How did you know?”

“I always know. Besides, you’re not as stealthy as you think you are. Did you want something?”

“You were right.”

“You’ll have to be more specific I’m afraid. Right about what?”

Selena sighed, rubbing her arm. “About, remembering. I asked Yuto and Ruri if they remembered their first day at Heartland Academy, and they did. But, I can’t remember my first day at Duel Academy at all. Why, why can’t I remember?”

Yuri shrugged, “The same reason I can’t I suppose.” He straightened up, “Since you’re here, I do have a question for you.”

“About?”

“Patience, patience.” He picked up a chunk of crystal, or rather broke it off a large piece and began to etch something into the stone. “I’m not sure what this is,” he said as he worked. “But I keep, seeing it.”

“Seeing it?”

Yuri nodded, “My dreams, the back of my mind. I feel like I’ve seen it before, but I can’t place it. Does it look familiar to you?”

He stepped away to reveal his slightly crude carving. The, thing, looked at first like a scorpion with a wide body and long tail, except instead of a stinger the tail branched into two tendrils, and it lacked pincers, only having six legs, each tipped with a single claw. He’d drawn in what looked to be six eyes on what Selena assumed was the head, and a pair of mandibles.

Selena’s brow creased as she looked at the, thing, trying in vain to place it. He was right, it did seem familiar, but its name escaped her, as did where she might have possibly seen it.

“I don’t know,” she said finally. “Perhaps it was something we saw in a duel at someone point and forgot.”

“But it is familiar to you?” he asked.

“I’ve seen it before, I think. But I don’t know what it is.”

He nodded, “I see. I suppose that’s just one more mystery we’ll need to solve. I wonder, if it has anything to do with our memory loss.”

 

Dennis craned his neck as the D-Wheel sped down the lane way, towards another section of the city. So far they’d had no luck in finding Yuri or Sora, and he was beginning to lose his patience. He hated having to ride with this, glorified mall cop; he’d have an easier time searching without his escort. But losing him was proving to be difficult. He’d tried once, only to be nabbed five minutes later and dragged back by the collar.

But Dennis wasn’t one to give up easily; he’d lose his escort no matter what it took, and it was going to take some creative thinking on his part.

“Oh look, I think I saw someone!” he exclaimed loudly, pointing towards an alley.

The man slammed on the brakes, causing Dennis to slide forward and nearly head butt the back of his helmet.

“Where?”

“Over there!” he pointed into the shadows. “I’m sure I saw someone run back there!”

“You wait here, I’ll check it out.”

As the officer dismounted, Dennis smirked; this was exactly what he’d been hoping for.

‘ _Now, how does this work?_ ’ he wondered, slipping forward and into the driver’s seat. ‘ _Ah, here we go!_ ’

“I don’t see any one back here-hey!” The man turned around in time to see Dennis speed off on his D-Wheel, leaving him stranded.

“Sorry, but I work better alone, you’re just slowing me down.” Gripping the handlebars he sped off down the road with a quick wave behind him. Now maybe he could look for the traitors properly. After all if he failed this mission he would really be getting it from The Professor, and he didn’t want that.

He wasn’t going to be able to keep the D-Wheel though, it was a Security owned one, so more than likely it was being tracked, which meant he’d have to ditch it and continue on foot once he was far enough away if he wanted to keep from getting caught.

Dennis sighed, what a pain this all was. He was sure he could have found them both hours ago had they let him do it alone. But no, they had to send someone with him. And he didn’t even listen to Dennis unless the redhead practically screamed that he’d seen something. His escort had insisted that he knew better simply because he lived there. That might have been so, but he didn’t know Sora and Yuri.

He rounded a corner quickly, the D-Wheel tipping dangerously to one side as he took the turn a bit to sharply.

‘ _Now Sora, Yuri, where are the two of you hiding?_ ’


	42. Synchro Arc part 15

_Wandering aimlessly, Rin tried to piece together just what had happened. She remembered fleeing from Security, and the ensuing chase through the rain and the mud. She remembered a terrifying loss of control when her D-Wheel spun out and the fear lit inside her when she went airborne._

_Rin shuddered; her last memory was a jumbled mess, a single moment of fear and agonizing pain before everything sank into darkness._

_When she opened her eyes the pain was gone, though the fear still lingered, and she was in a place she had never seen before._

_It was beautiful, even if she had no idea where she was or what the place was._

_Her thoughts drifted back to Yugo and she held herself tightly, he was still trapped down there, in the Underground, and he was never getting out._

_‘_ Oh Yugo I’m sorry, _’ she thought, feeling tears sting her eyes. Not only was he stuck down there, but if by some miracle he did get out, she was never going to be able to see him again, because she was dead and he wasn’t._

_It wasn’t hard to figure out that wherever she was, was for the dead. There was no way she’d survived that crash, she knew what happened when a fast moving D-Wheel collided with a stationary object the way she had; especially if it had a passenger on board._

_She was dead, and separated from Yugo even more than before._

_They’d never been apart before, not like that and not for any length of time at least. As long as she could remember they had been together, practically glued at the hip according to the matron of the orphanage._

_So when Yugo’s application to the Friendship Cup had been accepted and hers hadn’t, there were mixed feelings. They were glad that at least one of them would get in, but anxious because it meant they might not see each other for a while. Rin had just never expected that it would mean that she would never see him again._

_“Hey is someone out there?”_

_Rin’s head shot up at the sound of a voice, an actual voice! Someone else was there besides her! Without thinking she answered back, running towards the source of the voice. The idea that whoever was speaking could be dangerous didn’t even cross her mind; she was just excited to see another person._

_“I’m here!” she called. “Who else is here? Do you know where I am? What is this place?” She ran towards the voice, sliding down a small hill and into another person._

_“You’re who I heard!” exclaimed the other girl (at least Rin was pretty sure it was a girl). “I thought I heard someone. I’m glad I’m not the only one here.”_

_Rin gaped silently (and if she’d had a mouth it would have been hanging open) at what she saw. The girl, aside from looking decidedly not human, had shimmering broad wings protruding from her back. In the dim light, they glinted like brass._

_“I’m Ruri,” she said, taking Rin’s hand._

_“Rin. I’m Rin,” she replied, still awestruck at the girl in front of her. “So, where are we?”_

 

When Rin rode towards them Winter Bell, Yugo knew something was up. There was no reason for it to be out unless she was dueling.

“We need to hurry!” she exclaimed, leaping off the monster as it vanished. “Security’s on our trail. I just held off one but it won’t last long.”

“Then you’d better get on,” said Crow, jerking his thumb to the space behind him on his D-Wheel. “The sooner we get out of here the better.”

“Rin!” Yugo caught her hand as she climbed onto Crow’s D-Wheel, giving it a light squeeze. “Be careful, alright?”

She smiled and nodded, squeezing his hand back, “Don’t worry, I will be. You be careful too.”

He let go of her hand reluctantly as the D-Wheel began to pull away.

“Come on, we need to go too,” said Shinji. “Before the Tops catch us. We broke into the impound lot; Security’ll be around shortly to check it out. Your friend will be fine, Crow will keep her safe.”

“I hope so,” said Yugo, adjusting his helmet as he took off after Shinji.

“So, why do you want to go to the Underground?” asked Shinji. “That’s the one place no one wants to go and everyone wants to leave.”

Yugo tightened his grip, “It’s complicated. There’s something I need to do, to check down there.”

“I take it has to do with this, war you Lancers talked about?”

He nodded, “Yeah, something like that.”

“And you’re not bringing your allies along?”

“I have to do this alone. So just, get me down there in one piece. Once I’m done I can find my own way out.”

“Without being caught?”

“Obviously. Now, how do we get down there?”

“Keep your head low and follow me.”

Shinji turned down an alley, slowing his bike and raising a finger to Yugo into a ‘keep quiet’ gesture. Several moments later a pair of D-Wheels sped down the street, sirens blaring.

“Security is going to be everywhere now since that stunt you guys pulled getting everyone out. We need to be on our toes.” The engine rumbled again as he started it up again and indicated for Yugo to follow. “We’ll have to take the back road as far as we can go, then continue on foot. We won’t be able to get these close enough or take them underground.”

Yugo sighed and gave Crystal Wing a pat, “Ah well, hopefully I won’t need a fast getaway down there.”

The ride was fairly quiet, Shinji focused on the road ahead of him and the world around him.

“Shinji, why are you so sure it was Rin who sold you out?” asked Yugo after a few minutes of lingering silence.

“I gave my reasons.”

“And you’re sure it couldn’t be anyone else?”

“I can’t think of anyone who would do that. We value camaraderie, to betray an ally like that, it’s beyond dishonorable.” Shinji gripped the handles of his D-Wheel, clenching his jaw. “Why would any of my men sell out one of their own?”

“The same reason you think Rin did? Maybe he cut a deal for something. But it wasn’t Rin. I know Rin better than anyone, we grew up together! She would never do something like that. Rin isn’t that kind of person. Besides, if she had cut a deal with anyone to get me out, surely they would have let me out. And they didn’t.” He shuddered at the memory of dying alone, cold and seemingly forgotten. “Believe me, if anyone was getting out because of a deal, it sure as hell wasn’t me. I was the farthest thing from it. Shinji, have you ever been to the Underground?”

“No I haven’t, but I’ve known people that went there. We never saw them again. Why?”

“I don’t doubt that. It’s nearly impossible to get out of there. If you’re lucky you can duel for your freedom, but with how they starve you, work you to exhaustion, deprive you of sleep; you can barely focus on one duel, let alone several in a row. That’s what happened to me. I tried, I tried so many times to win my freedom but I got worse each time, I kept misplaying.” Yugo shook his head, “And then I heard about what happened to Rin. They didn’t use names but I knew who it was who died.”

“So what did you do?” asked Shinji.

“I gave up. I just, gave up, on everything.” He hung his head in shame. “I just, lost the will to live, to do anything.”

“So you…”

“I told you, I gave up. I collapsed one day while working and never got back up. I didn’t have the strength or the will to do so.” Yugo shook his head, “And now I’m marching right back down there. This is probably the stupidest thing I’ve ever done.”

“Well I won’t argue with you there. So what you’re doing, does it have to do with you being, whatever it is you are?”

Yugo nodded, “Yeah, something to do with that. Like I said it’s, complicated, and might all be for nothing who knows. Rin’s doing the same thing, she’s visiting her crash sight.”

 

“You ok back there?” asked Crow.

Rin nodded, gripping his shoulders tightly so as not to fall off. “Yeah I’m fine. Haven’t fallen off yet.”

Crow laughed, “Good, now which way are we going? You never said where you wanted to go.”

“Just keep going, I’ll direct you,” she said. “It was a back alley, several blocks from the entrance to the Underground, in the Common’s quarters.”

Crow nodded, “I see.”

“Crow, is Shinji always that, judgmental of people?”

He sighed, hanging his head momentarily, “He’s, been through a lot. Rin, how old are you?”

“Don’t you know it’s rude to ask a lady her age?” she teased. Crow laughed and shook his head. “I’m 14, why?”

“Then you wouldn’t remember what it was like, before Roger took over,” he said with a sigh. “Things were different, better. But then Chojiro Tokumatsu was arrested, and the riots happened. That’s when Roger stepped in and things got worse for us; the curfews, the restrictions, the Friendship Cup, all of it. The Tops began to treat us even worse than before. The only people we could trust were each other.” He sighed, “We did what we could to survive, to make things better for the younger ones, for people like you and Yugo. The people in Shinji’s crew, he was close to them, trusted them. Like you and Yugo he’d known most of them since he was a kid. So to be sold out like that, it’s unthinkable.”

Rin sighed, “And I was an outsider, so he just assumed it had to be me rather than think ill of anyone he knew.”

Crow nodded, “That would be right. After that day though, he became very suspicious everyone. I’m actually amazed he agreed to this.” He tilted his head to glance back at her, “Please, don’t be to hard on him.”

“I’d probably suspect me too in his shoes. But it wasn’t me, you have to believe me.” She tightened her grip on his left shoulder as she pointed, “Turn right here.”

“Don’t worry, I do,” he said, turning as they came to the road she’d pointed too. “I think he does too. Or at least, he wants to. Certainly after what you showed him earlier. He trusted you alone with me, so he must be giving you the benefit of the doubt.”

“That or he thinks you’re capable enough to dealing with me if I did betray you,” she snorted.

“That too.” Crow glanced around quickly before speeding up. “Hold on tight, I think we’re being followed, I’m going to try and lose them, and I don’t want you falling off,” he warned. “If we’re lucky it won’t be Security hounding us.”

“Turn onto the back road by the abandoned fountain,” said Rin, tightening her grip. “There’s enough side roads there, if someone is following us we should be able to shake them by heading that way. I hope.”

“Sounds like a plan,” said Crow.

 

Roger’s scowl deepened as he stared at the screen, the Lancers had gotten away again.

Even with all his Duel Runners out and searching for them, they still couldn’t apprehend a single one of them. And one of them had just been beaten, allowing the fugitives he’d been tailing to escape. It was infuriating. If he didn’t catch them then Akaba Leo would have his head and his job.

“It seems,” he said with a sigh. “That I will be in need of your assistance after all, Sergey.”

‘Sergey’ was the large man that stood at his side silently, his visible skin covered in yellow criminal marks.

Yuri and Sora’s images flashed up on the screen. “These two individuals are to be captured and brought back to me, alive,” he said. “And preferably in once piece. But as for the rest,” the monitor flickered slightly and the rest of the Lancer’s pictures flashed up on the screen. “You may crush them. Be as ruthless as you wish. But bring me those two.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And before you ask no, I don't know who it was that betrayed Shinji (not like we ever really learned many names of other commons anyways). And plot wise, it doesn't matter.
> 
> Also yes, Ruri's Barian form has wings, they're just not always visible(their appearance is meant as a reference to the clockwork nightingale in the fairy tail The Nightingale).


	43. Synchro Arc part 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to fudge things b/c I don't recall us actually seeing the entrance to the Underground(of which I assume there's probably a couple).

“We’ll need to go on foot from here,” said Shinji, pulling his D-Wheel into a small alley. “We need to head down some stairs and the elevator shaft, our D-Wheels won’t be able to make it.” He looked over at Yugo as the teen dismounted, “Do you still want to do this?”

“I have to, now let’s get going. Just show me how to get in. Once I’m underground you can leave if you want, I don’t care.”

Shinji nodded, “Then let’s go. I hope you’re alright with getting your hands a bit dirty.”

From the outside, it looked like a regular, unassuming building, save for the guards standing around outside the doors.

“So how do we get past them?” asked Yugo as they ducked behind a wall. “Take’em in a duel?”

Shinji shook his head, “No, it’ll attract to much attention, we’re trying to get in unnoticed after all. If they haven’t changed anything then the guards should be changing on the hour. We’ll have a few minutes then to sneak past.”

Yugo sighed, “And when’s that?”

“10 minutes, give or take, so we need to sit and lay low until then. Can you manage that?”

Yugo groaned and leaned against the wall, he hated waiting and sitting still. But getting to the Underground was important, so as much as he hated it, he’d do it.

“So what do we do once we’re inside?” asked Yugo, “Avoid more guards?”

Shinji nodded, “There are guards, cameras and alarms. We’ll need to avoid them all.”

“That sounds like a lot of work.”

“It’s mostly to keep people from breaking out, they aren’t usually expecting people to break _in_.”

“So, how did things go so wrong?” asked Yugo. “When you tried to break in with Rin. It sounds like you had everything figured out.”

Shinji scowled, “Someone tripped one of the cameras. I never saw who, I was in the lead and someone behind me tripped it. I heard the alarms go off shortly after and Security was on our tails after that.”

“Well it wasn’t Rin. She would never betray her comrades, she’s not that kind of person,” said Yugo. “I’ve known Rin as long as I can remember, she’s always had my back, always been there for me. She’d do a lot for me, but she would never betray someone for me.”

“After what I saw earlier I am, inclined to believe you, as hard as it is. I want to believe what you say, but it’s difficult. Fool me once, fool me twice after all.” He caned his neck to glance around the corner and elbowed Yugo. “Come one, they’re getting ready to change so we need to prepare to move. When they head inside to clock out we’ll have our chance.”

Yugo hauled himself to his feet, joining Shinji near the edge as they watched the guards.

“And what if they don’t change?” asked Yugo after a moment.

Shinji frowned, it seemed they had changed things since he was last there, as the guards showed no signs of moving.

“Then we go with Plan B.”

“What’s Plan B?”

Shinji crouched down and picked up a rock from the ground. “This.” Winding up he threw the rock, sending it sailing over their heads and cashing into the wall of the building.

“You missed!” hissed Yugo.

“I wasn’t aiming at them, now get back and wait.”

The sound of the rock striking metal caught their attention as intended as they ran to investigate.

“I think it came from over there!” said one of them, looking from the rock to the direction it had been thrown from.

“Who’s there?”

Shinji pulled Yugo back as the sound of footsteps drew nearer to their hiding spot. Then, just as they stepped into view, Shinji stuck his arm out, catching the first one just under the chin. His head jerked back and slammed into the second before he fell to the ground like a stone. Before the second guard had time to react, Shinji brought a knee into his gut, winding him and dropping him as well.

“Oh, that kind of plan B,” said Yugo, watching as both guards went down with barely a sound.

“Help me hide them, we don’t need anyone finding them,” said Shinji, grabbing one under the arms as he dragged him off into an alley. “Especially not once we’re done with them.” He glanced over at Yugo, who shot him a worried look and shook his head, “Don’t worry, we’re just going to, relieve them of a few things so we can get inside. They’re both out cold as it is, no fun fighting them like this anyways.”

“Things like what?” asked Yugo as he helped haul the second guard into the alley.

“ID badges and clothes. We’re breaking in so we need to look the part.”

 

“I cannot believe I am wearing this stuff,” said Yugo, looking down at himself as he did up the last button on the shirt. “I’m practically swimming in it.” The pants were far too long, needing to be rolled several times so Yugo wouldn’t trip on them, and the shirt was several sizes to big, the sleeves going past his hands and fitting loose around the chest and shoulders. And these had been on the smaller of the two guards.

“It’s only temporary,” said Shinji, tossing a keycard to Yugo.

Yugo shuddered. “I just feel so, dirty, wearing Security’s clothes.”

“I told you, it’s only temporary,” said Shinji. “Just so we can sneak through, we’ll be harder to recognize this way.”

“I hope so.”

A swipe at the door with the keycards and they unlocked, allowing the pair quick access-something Shinji admitted they hadn’t needed to do before.

Yugo shivered as they stepped inside, he’d hoped he’d never go back there. The inside was as uninteresting as the outside, long plain hallways with only a few doors here and there.

“Seems it looks the same no matter where we come in,” said Yugo.

Shinji gave him a curious look. “Oh?”

He nodded, “Yeah, when I came in they brought me in through an entrance near the Duel Palace. Looked pretty much like this too. Which means we need to find an elevator.”

“The disguises should buy us time to search,” said Shinji, pulling his hat lower over his face. “It’ll take them a bit to notice we’re not supposed to be here.”

“As long as we don’t run into anyone,” said Yugo. “I might be too small to pass for Security.” He held up his arms and shook them, indicating to the oversized sleeves. “You could pass as Security though.”

“I’ll try not to be insulted.”

Finding the elevator was as difficult as Yugo expected it to be. The halls all looked the same with only a few doors here and there (they didn’t know what was behind them, the doors were locked and the keycards wouldn’t open them) and nothing to indicate which direction they should head in.

Yugo groaned in exasperation as they hit another hall full of locked doors and no elevator.

‘ _Think Yugo think. If the Baria crystals are there then there has to be a way to track them._ ’ He looked down at his duel disk and shook his head, that wouldn’t help, it couldn’t track anything.

“Yugo?”

He closed his eyes, taking deep breaths to try and calm himself and focus. The crystals were from the Barian world, just like him, perhaps he could sense their energy. If he could sense it he could follow it, like a hunting dog. And if he could follow it he could find the elevator, maybe.

“I hate this!” He slammed a fist into the wall, causing Shinji to jump in surprise.

“Yugo!”

“What?”

Shinji cleared his throat and pointed to the spot where Yugo’s fist had hit the wall, and the sizeable dent he’d left. Yugo’s eyes widened, he hadn’t expected that to happen.

“Guess I don’t know my own strength,” he said, looking at his hand then at the wall.

“Yeah, try not to aim that at me,” warned Shinji. “You might cause real damage. Anyways, I was trying to get your attention earlier. I think that might be an elevator.” He pointed ahead to a large door, one that looked obviously different from all the other doors they’d seen.

“Oh, yeah that’s an elevator alright,” said Yugo with a nod. “I remember what it looks like. How did we find it?”

Shinji shrugged, “You got ahead of me and started walking aimlessly so I followed you, and you came here.”

“Good, then let’s get down there. The faster we get down there, the faster I can change out of these.”

“Let’s hope we have better luck opening these doors,” said Shinji.

“You mean like this?” Yugo pushed the button on the side of the wall and the doors slid open. “And in we go.” He paused, “Well me, you don’t need to keep following me, you got me in which is all I needed.”

“Nice try kid, but there’s something I need to do. I don’t know what your plans are, and frankly they aren’t my concern. But there are people down there who need me,” said Shinji. “My first try to get them out failed, but not this time.”

Yugo nodded, “Right, we’ll split up once we get down there. I know where I need to go anyways.”

Once Shinji was inside, Yugo hit the button for the bottom floor. “Going down.”

 

Rin frowned as she dismounted Blackbird and looked around the roadway. It was empty, not just free of people and abandoned, but completely empty.

“This, this isn’t right,” she stammered as she looked around, heart racing in her chest. “There should be, there should be something here!”

Crow rubbed the back of his head as he looked around. “So, what are we looking for around here?” he asked. “I mean, this place doesn’t seem exactly, special.”

“It’s where my accident was,” said Rin, bowing her head. “This was the road I was driving down when I slammed into the other D-Wheel. This is where I died.”

Crow’s eyes widened in surprise and he cleared his throat awkwardly. “Oh, I’m sorry. So, what are we looking for? This place is pretty abandoned.”

She sighed, “It was a hunch we were working on. But there should have been, crystals.”

“Crystals?” Crow raised an eyebrow, “I’m sure I’d have heard about something like that. Besides if there were anything like that they’d have been gathered up, by Tops and Commons alike, especially us Commons. Something like that, we could feed and clothe ourselves for a long time with something that valuable.”

“Like I said it was just a hunch, we didn’t know if they’d be here. But if that’s the case, what does this mean for Yugo?”

As Rin paced, Crow turned to looked behind him, keeping his hands on the handles of his D-Wheel.

“Rin, did you hear that?” he asked, eyes narrowed.

Rin stopped walking and looked over to him with a frown. “Hear what? Crow?”

“I think we were followed,” he said, detaching the duel disk from his ride as he dismounted and slipping it on his arm. “Whoever followed us better come on out, unless they want a fight on their hands!” he called. “And I won’t go easy.”

Rin gulped and braced herself, hoping that Crow was wrong about them having been followed.


	44. Synchro Arc part 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now things begin to pick up :D (aka we're getting to parts that I am excited for you to read heehee)

The first thing Yugo did the moment he hit the underground was shed the stolen clothes, his regular clothes still on underneath. There was just something, wrong, about wearing Security’s clothes and he was glad to have gotten rid of them.

Shinji didn’t, taking off for a different part of the underground as soon as he could. Yugo’s best guess was that he was planning on trying to rescue his comrades, provided they were in the Underground.

‘ _Now I just need to remember where I collapsed,_ ’ he thought. ‘ _And avoid being seen._ ’

While Security may have been flimsier down below and not as numerous, it was still there, and if they weren’t bad enough, there was Gallager.

He shuddered at the memory of the man. He pretty much ran the Underground Garbage Facility and could be likened to a slave driver. Failing to follow his rules was met with harsh punishment, as Yugo had learned first hand.

And then there were the duels, the duels that could, if Gallager was being truthful, earn one their freedom.

Yugo’s hands balled into fists at his side at the memory, the jeers and the laughing as he lay on the ground in defeat. It was humiliating and degrading. And Gallager was the worst of all of them. Yugo had never even seen him duel, for all he boasted of his skills, but he claimed to be the best one there. Yugo had half a mind to punch his face in if he ever saw it again.

With a growl he knocked his fist against his forehead a few times, ‘ _No, focus Yugo focus, you need to find the crystals, find where you, died._ ’

He would know the place if he saw it, the problem was, the Garbage Facility was huge, a veritable labyrinth, and trying to remember exactly where he’d fallen, while avoiding running into anyone, was easier said than done.

The workers weren’t going to be a problem, they would more than likely ignore him, if he got into trouble that was his problem not theirs, and they weren’t going to make it theirs. In the Underground, it was every man for himself. No, it was Gallager and the ground Security he needed to worry about, they were the ones who would know something was up if the saw and they were the ones who would make his task infinitely more difficult if they found him.

He quickly ducked for cover behind a pile of garbage at the sound of the familiar, pompous voice of Gallager. As much as he wanted to smash his face in, that wasn’t the top of his priorities and would need to wait. Besides it would cause far too much of a ruckus and draw attention to him that he didn’t need or want.

“How much longer are they keeping that area roped off anyways?” asked Gallager, sounding very indignant about something. “I have people working down here and we need to use that area for disposal.”

“I don’t know what to tell you,” said the Security agent at his side. “But I‘ve been told not to let anyone back there until further notice.”

“And how much longer is that going to be?” he demanded. “You’ve been blocking it off for months and no one’s tellin’ me anything.”

Yugo frowned as he listened, part of the Underground was being blocked off? That was unusual; he couldn’t remember a time they’d ever blocked any part of it off, especially for any length of time.

‘ _Does that mean what I think it means?_ ’ he wondered, sinking down and farther out of sight as they continued past.

Crystals would certainly draw the attention of the Tops and Commons, and would definitely be a reason to block it off, the Tops would want to make sure the Commons couldn’t get to something like that.

The only way to find out for sure of course would be to look. He waited until Gallager’s voice had passed before he slipped out of his hiding spot and took off. He didn’t notice the figure lurking the shadows that darted after him.

 

Crow held his ground, eyes trained on the alleyway where the sound had been heard.

“I know you’re in there!” he yelled, so come on out.

Feet shuffled over the stones as someone, or several someone’s, bumped into trash bins.

“That was a really rough landing, are you ok Yuzu?” asked the male voice, and Rin perked up.

“Yuya? Yuzu?” she asked. “Is that you?”

“Rin?” Two faces popped out of the alley, a bit dusty looking but no worse for wear, and Rin smiled. She grabbed Crow’s arm and pulled it down, shaking her head.

“It’s ok Crow, they’re friends. We can trust them.”

As they stepped out, Crow looked at them, then over to Rin, then back at them. “Rin, how many versions of you and Yugo are there?” he finally asked.

She laughed, “Only a few others, but I don’t think you’ll be meeting them.”

Yuya shook his head, “Yuri said he wasn’t coming back, and I don’t think the rest are coming either.”

“What are you doing here?” asked Rin.

“We thought you could use some help,” said Yuya. “Where’s Yugo?”

“Underground, hopefully. That’s where he and Shinji went anyways. I hope they’re alright.” She rubbed her arm and glanced around the area, “We didn’t find what we were looking for here though, no crystals, so I hope his luck is better.”

“Since we didn’t find anything here, we should go find the rest of your friends and get them to somewhere safe,” said Crow, making his way back to his D-Wheel. “We’ve left them alone more than long enough.” He caught Rin’s nervous gaze and nodded, “And then we’ll go find your friend, I promise.”

“Can you tell us how to get to the Underground?” asked Yuya. “Yugo might need our help.”

“I can do you one better,” said Rin. “I can take you there.” She looked over at Crow and smiled, “Don’t worry, you go on ahead, I can get them there on my own.”

“Without a D-Wheel?”

She nodded, drawing a card from her deck, “The same way I followed you guys. I’ll just take advantage of our Solid Vision system.”

 

Sora panted as he ducked into an alley, hand pressed to his chest as he stopped to catch his breath.

Everything had been gong fine, no one seemed to be giving them so much as a second thought, until they ran into him. Dennis.

Sora knew he was in trouble when the red-haired duelist showed up, looking for all the world to be innocent and happy to see them. But Sora knew better.

“Familiar faces at last!” cheered Dennis, smiling widely as he walked towards them, clapping his hands together. “I was beginning to think I’d be lost forever.”

Shun clenched his jaw and Sora took a step back, moving behind Gongenzaka.

“We can’t trust him,” he hissed under his breath.

Gongenzaka frowned and glanced back to Sora and Shun, and the hostile expressions on their faces.

“He’s working with Roger,” added Sora. “Yuri warned me.” Sora didn’t sound like he was lying, and the look in his eyes seemed to suggest he was being truthful as well.

Sawatari started towards Dennis, delighted to see him, only to be stopped when Gongenzaka grabbed his arm.

“What do you think you’re doing?” he sputtered.

“We can’t trust him,” growled Shun. “He’s not one of us.”

Dennis tilted his head to one side, bouncing on his feet, “Is something wrong? I thought you would be happy to see me.”

“Drop the act Dennis,” said Sora. “The jig is up, we know who you’re working for.”

Dennis’ smile faltered slightly, “What ever are you talking about?”

Sora clenched his teeth, the sucker cracking slightly under the pressure. “Yuri told me who you’re working with, who Roger’s working with. And if you think I’ll let you take me back to Academia, you’ve got another thing coming.”

“Oh Sora,” said Dennis in his playful, singsong voice. “What ever makes you think you’re going to have a choice?”

That was when Sora bolted. Dennis had no interest in the others, as far as Sora was aware, so there was no point in dragging them into his problem.

Denis’ playful façade dropped as he ran a hand though his hair with a sigh, “Oh, you would make me do this the hard way wouldn’t you?”

Sora ran as fast as he could, heart pounding in his chest. He couldn’t go back to Academia, not now, not knowing the sort of fate that awaited him. He was a deserter and a traitor; going back would surely mean his death.

It didn’t even register that he had no idea where he was going; he just bolted and ran for it and hoped that he could outrun Dennis.

On shaking legs he ducked into an alley, leaning against the wall to catch his breath.

He hadn’t even seen if Dennis had started after him, or if the others had stopped him, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to find out.

‘ _Please don’t be right behind me,_ ’ he thought, sinking to the ground slowly.

 

“Clear Wing Synchro Dragon! Helldive Slasher of Whirlwind!”

With a mighty roar, Yugo’s signature dragon tore through the air and through the barrier that had been erected and the people guarding it. The wind whipped past it, tossing the area into disarray and sending everyone fleeing for cover.

“Now, lets see what you guys are keeping hidden back here,” he said, hands on his hips as he stepped over debris from Clear Wing’s attack. “Because it’s not like Security to guard nothing.”

Clear Wing roared as it returned to its master’s side, hovering just off the ground.

The area looked pretty much like the rest of the underground, except for the cluster of shimmering blue crystals that stuck out of the ground.

“Yeah, I’d say I’m in the right place.”

 

“Sergey, you have new orders, I want you to head for the Underground Garbage Facility. It seems we have a, situation. Security can take care of our fugitives.”


	45. Synchro Arc part 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is! God, I've been excited for this chapter since I knew I was going to write it.
> 
> The perspective bouncing is because the two things are going on at the same time. 
> 
>  
> 
> And if you weren't aware, Earthbound Fusion is a Quick Play spell, which is why Sergey can do what he did.

Rubbing his chin, Yugo crouched down as he examined the crystals, occasionally tapping it with his finger. It was, without a shadow of a doubt, a Baria crystal, but now that he found it, what was he supposed to do with it? There had to be some trick to getting rid of them.

The crystal, and the ground around it were scratched up, as if someone had tried to remove them, and failed.

“I know Yuya said I’m supposed to make you leave, but how?” he wondered, placing a hand on one.

It gave off a cool light, and was even colder to the touch and Yugo quickly withdrew his hand with a shiver, it was as if he’d grabbed ice.

He shook his hand, trying to shake off the chill, before crouching down for a better look at them, hoping for some kind of clue.

 

As Rin clung to Winter Bell, Yuya and Yuzu riding just behind her on their own monsters, Odd-Eyes and Bloom Diva respectively, her bracelet began to flash.

‘ _Huh, it’s never done that before,_ ’ she thought as he lifted her wrist to look at it. ‘ _I hope Yugo’s not in any trouble._ ’

As they rounded a corner, a small figure darted out, skidding to a halt in front of them with a yelp.

“Is that…?”

“Sora!” Yuya’s face lit up at the sight of his friend and pulled Odd-Eyes to a stop.

Sora lowered his arms and glanced between their monsters before looking to them. “Yuya! Yuzu! Oh I’m so glad to see you!”

Yuya hopped off Odd-Eyes, running towards Sora, who threw his arms around Yuya in a tight hug. “Whoa, easy Sora, what’s the matter? Where’s everyone else, I thought you were with Shun and the others?”

“I was but then Dennis showed up,” he panted, releasing Yuya as he looked up at him. “Yuri told me that Dennis is trying to capture the two of us, so when I saw him I ran. I don’t know where he is now, I didn’t stop to look.” He bit his lip. “I didn’t even stop to think if the others were going to be ok, I just ran. I really am a coward.”

Rin frowned, jumping down from Winter Bell’s arm. “Why would Dennis be after you and Yuri?”

“Because he’s a Fusion spy, and we’re traitors,” explained Sora. “I don’t want to think about what’ll happen if I’m dragged back there.”

“Don’t worry, we won’t let that happen,” said Yuya, placing a hand on Sora’s shoulder.

“I wouldn’t make promises you can’t keep, Yuya!”

Their heads turned towards of the source of the voice, in time to see Dennis let go of his Trapeze Magician and drop onto a nearby roof.

“You know you can’t outrun me Shiunin, so just give up, and I might spare your friends.”

 

Yugo’s investigation of the crystals was interrupted rather suddenly as the sound of screams from somewhere else in the underground filled the air, followed by the almighty roar of some monster.

‘ _Oh it seems like I have company,_ ’ he thought, leaping to his feet. Behind him, Clear Wing vanished as he prepared for a duel.

As the cause of the screams came into view he felt his breath catch in his throat.

The first thing that became obvious was this man was not Security, from any level. In fact, he was someone who had been caught by Security many, many times, as evidenced by the multitude of yellow markings that covered his face and chest. Yugo had no doubt that there were many, many more on him that couldn’t be seen.

He was large, both in height and presence and he stared down at Yugo with a blank expression.

Yugo gulped and took a half step back; this duelist was something out of every child’s worst nightmare, the sort of person used to frighten kids into being good.

Sergey Volkov; The Duelist Crusher.

Sergey raised his arm and Yugo heard a familiar voice resonate in the silence from their duel disks.

 

DUEL MODE: ENGAGED

ACTION FIELD: CROSS OVER

 

Then, Sergey spoke, his voice flat and emotionless.

“I activate the field spell, Earthbound Prison.”

The ground around Yugo shook violently as rocks jutted out at odd angles. And what looked like hands of stone rose out of it, reaching towards the sky. There was a crash from behind him and Yugo turned to see a massive stone hand appear and come down on him, trapping him as a barrier filled in the gaps between the fingers.

Yugo cursed, now he really couldn’t run from the duel, he was going to have to see this through to the end.

“And Earthbound Prison allows me to summon Earthbound Prisoner-Stone Sweeper from my hand.”

The ground rumbled again as a large black, fish-like creature swam out from a crack in the ground, a shackle clamped around the base of its tail. An eerie blue light shone through the cracks in its skin, illuminating the markings that covered its form.

“Then I summon the tuner monster, Earthbound Prisoner-Line Walker!”

A pair of large, stony hands reached out of the crack in the ground, grabbing the edge and pulling its monstrous form onto the field. While the first monster looked like a fish, the new one looked like half a stone statue, the arms connected to a body and what Yugo assumed was a head with a single, closed, eye. Orange light glowed through it and the chains on its wrists jangled as it moved.

“I activate the spell, Underworld Harmonics - Synchro Fusion!”

Yugo’s eyes widened, a Synchro summon AND a Fusion summon, at the same time‽ Yuri was right, Roger had to be Fusion, it was the only way that anyone from Synchro could have gotten their hands on Fusion magic. Damn, this was even worse than he’d thought.

 

_Revive from the depths of the earth._

_Gigantic beast with wings of punishment!_

_Synchro Summon! Come forth! Level 8!_

_Earthbound Servant Geo Griffon!_

 

The two monsters on the field doubled, one pair vanishing into the light of the Fusion summon, the other the rings of a Synchro summon.

The first creature to emerge was a large beast, part eagle and part lion, with green markings crossing its body. Unlike the first two monsters, which seemed to be made of stone, this one was made of stone and metal, its head seemingly encaged in a mask of steel. It screeched loudly and Yugo clamped his hands over his ears as the metallic noise rang out.

 

_Prisoner that crawls across the earth,_

_Become one with the prisoner that walks the path of execution and become a gigantic beast that delivers out punishment!_

_Fusion Summon! Come forth! Level 8!_

_Earthbound Servant Geo Kraken!_

 

The next creature to emerge was a large squid, covered in violet markings that glowed eerily in the dim light of the underground. Eight tentacles thrashed about wildly, slapping the ground and nearby walls.

Yugo gulped, backing into the wall of his cage, they were powerful monsters, one with 2500 attack points and one with 2800 attack points. He needed to get something out fast or he was done for. His only saving grace was that this was the first turn, so Sergey couldn’t attack.

Sergey set one card silently as he stared down Yugo, who felt like a trapped mouse, staring into the jaws of a cat.

‘ _Keep your head on Yugo, keep it on,_ ’ he thought, taking a deep breath to try and calm himself. “Now it’s my turn! First I activate Speedraw. I send one monster with the name ‘Speedroid’ from my hand to the graveyard, in order to draw two more cards!” He looked at the cards in his hand, including the two he’d just drawn.

“I summon Speedroid Bamboo Horse, and use its effect to summon the tuner monster Speedroid DenDen Daiko!”

With a whinny a green and white horse in golden garb leapt onto the field, kicking with its front legs while blue-violet smoke billowed where its rear legs would have been. It was joined by a second monster, this one a small humanoid monster in a cape and oversized hat. A curl of brown hair and single green eye poked out from under the hat.

“I tune my level 4 Bamboo horse to my level 3 Speedroid DenDen!”

 

_Spread those wondrous and beautiful wings, and strike down your enemies at the speed of light!_

_Synchro Summon! Appear now! Level 7!_

_Clear Wing Synchro Dragon!_

 

The air shimmered behind Yugo as Clear Wing flew through the rings and onto the field with a roar.

“Next I activate Mystical Space Typhoon to get rid of that field spell.”

A dark vortex materialized on the field, spreading out as if to engulf it, until another whirlpool-like portal opened up, sucking in the smaller, darker portal.

“What happened?” sputtered Yugo.

“I activated my counter trap, Earthbound-Spell Sealer. As long as I have a field spell active, I can negate your spell and destroy it.”

Yugo swore, now he was in a bind, the field spell kept his Clear Wing from being able to activate its ability.

“I end my turn,” he growled.

A cold, malicious smile spread across Sergey’s face as he looked down at Yugo, “Such a strong fighting spirit, crushing it will be enjoyable.”

“Only if you win, which you won’t.”

Sergey’s smile only grew in size, “We shall see. First, Geo Kraken attacks your Clear Wing Synchro Dragon!”

Clear Wing screeched as long tentacles wrapped around its body, slowly crushing it.

“I banish the Tri-Eyed Dice I sent to my graveyard earlier to negate the battle damage.”

“You dragon is still destroyed!”

Clear Wing gave a dying screech as it was crushed in the Kraken’s coils.

“Then Geo Griffin attacks you directly!”

The griffin screeched, spreading its wings as it dove towards a defenseless Yugo.

“I activate the effect of the Speedroid-Menko in my hand. I can summon it to the field and stop your attack by forcing your monsters into defense position.”

The griffin stopped mid-dive and returned to Sergey’s side of the field and crouched down, drawing its wings up. At the same time, Geo Kraken’s tentacles curled around it protectively.

Yugo breathed a sigh of relief; he’d stalled off taking damage and ended the battle. If he could survive he could win this.

“I activate Earthbound Fusion!”

Yugo’s eyes widened, Sergey wasn’t done yet?

“I fuse together my Earthbound Servant Geo Kraken, and Earthbound Servant Geo Griffin!”

 

_Demon that rules over the sky!_

_Demon that lives in the sea!_

_Become one and rise from the depths of the underground!_

_Fusion Summon! Come forth! Level 10! Earthbound Servant Geo Grasya!_

 

Yugo could only watch in horror as a large monster filled the room. The large black creature glowed with eerie marks as it materialized before him. Its horned head scraped at the ceiling, while it’s long clawed hands and arrow tipped tail swept at the ground. From its shoulders sprouted a pair of massive wings, which reached from wall to wall.

What Yugo found more worrying however, were it’s 3000 attack points, all of which were gunning right for him.

“Now, Geo Grasya, attack his puny monster. Darkness Miasma!”

The giant monster growled, wings twitching as a thick, dark, miasma swirled around it, pulsing out like a breath of air. Slowly it tilted its head back, the glow of its markings increasing, like a flame building within its core.

Yugo took a step back, glancing quickly at his hand; there was nothing he could do. When that attack connected he was going to be in a lot of trouble.

Its massive jaws parted with a roar and the next thing Yugo knew he was in the air as a blast of dark energy slammed into his monster, and them him.

As he flew backwards, Yugo slammed into the crystals and kept going, a cry of pain catching in his throat as they shattered to pieces around him.

 

One moment Yuya was on his feet, keeping himself between Sora and Dennis and ready for a duel if it came to that, the next a wave of blinding pain hit him and he fell like a stone, a cry dying in his throat. It felt to Yuya like he’d been hit by a truck and every inch of his body screamed out in pain as he fell. Yuzu and Rin fell just as quickly, dropping to their knees as they doubled over.

“Yuya! Yuzu!” Sora screamed, spinning around to try and figure out what had caused his friends to fall like that. He hadn’t felt anything, save for a breath of air from a weak breeze.

“Aww what a shame,” said Dennis from his rooftop perch, a light gust of wind the only thing to brush past him. “I don’t know what happened, but it’s good for me.” He snapped his fingers and the next thing Sora knew he was being lifted off the ground as a pair of hands grabbed him by the shoulders.

“Put me down!” he screeched, legs flailing under him.

From where he lay on the ground, Yuya could only watch helplessly as Trapeze Magician landed beside Dennis, arms wrapped tightly around Sora to keep him from moving.

“It’s been nice Yuuya, but I really must be going. Even if I don’t have Yuri, one is better than none.” Dennis gave a playful wave to him before, right in front of Yuya’s eyes, he and Sora vanished in a flash of blue light.

“No, Sora…”


	46. Synchro Arc part 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First, you might noticed I tweaked the tags. Discovered the 'Character undeath' tag the other day, figured it probably applied to Barians, since they're, kind of undead.  
> The main relationship tag is mean as platonic, but take it as you wish.
> 
> Also, warning for strangulation/asphyxia, if that freaks you out.

Yugo grunted as he lay on the ground, the shards of crystal covering the area floor around him. He’d only stopped flying because he’d hit the barrier making up his prison.

Everything was pain, and stars flashed in his vision when he moved. But he had to get up, he had to finish the duel, he couldn’t let Sergey win. The last attack had sent his life points plummeting right down to 1100; he was still in it, but only barely.

“Because I control no monsters, I can special summon my Speedroid-Terror Top onto the field. And then, I activate the spell, Step on Shadow,” he croaked, as he pulled himself to his feet. “I target your level 10 Geo Grasya, and summon from my graveyard an Extra Deck monster with a lower level. Be revived, Clear Wing Synchro Dragon!”

Once again, Yugo’s dragon took to the field with a roar.

“Of course, it comes with a cost, Clear Wing’s effect is negated. But, that’s ok, because Clear Wing won’t be around long. Because I summon my Red-Eyed Dice from my hand.”

The low-leveled monster appeared in a flash of light beside Clear Wing.

“Now I tune my level 7 Clear Wing Synchro Dragon, to my level 1 Red-Eyed Dice!”

 

_Shine the wings that store the holy light, and strike down your enemies with its radiance!_

_Synchro Summon! Come forth! Level 8! Crystal Wing Synchro Dragon!_

 

The dragon that appeared looked as if it had been made from the shards of crystal that surrounded Yugo, glimmering in the dim light.

“Next I activate the spell Hidden Shot. By banishing a Speedroid in my graveyard, I can target and destroy your Geo Grasya! Say goodbye to that monster of yours!”

Geo Grasya howled as tendrils of light wrapped around it, dragging it down through a rift in the ground.

“Now Crystal Wing, direct attack! Crystallos Edge of Gale!”

Crystal Wing roared, wings shining like its namesake as it dove towards Sergey, who barely seemed to flinch as the attack struck him.

“And now, Speedroid-Terror Top, finish him off!”

Yugo stumbled as he called out his last attack, still dazed and stunned from Sergey’s last attack. He had to remain standing, if he collapsed now, before the final attack connected, he would lose the duel. He groaned, pressing a hand to his head as his vision blurred and doubled on him, staying on his feet was proving to be harder than it sounded.

He heard the familiar sound of the attack landing, and the telltale beep of life points hitting 0.

“Looks like I won,” he said, dropping to his knees as the solid vision vanished around him, freeing him from his prison. “Good, that’s over with.”

Something thumped across the stone towards him and he looked up to see Sergey advancing on him. “You may have won the duel, but my orders were clear, to eliminate you. And now, you’ve weakened yourself so much you can’t even stand up.” He stared down at Yugo as he came to a stop in front of him, lone red eye glowing menacingly. “Crushing your hope now will be, most enjoyable.”

Yugo felt himself being lifted off the ground as a hand grabbed his throat. He gagged, instinctively clawing at Sergey’s massive hand in a futile attempt to pry himself free as Sergey’s massive grip tightened.

“Watch as your hope dies with you,” chortled Sergey, his other hand moving to grab Yugo around the throat as well, despite the fact that one of his large hands was enough to fit around the entirety of his throat with no issue.

Yugo’s feet flailed under him as Sergey lifted him up, his grip tightening the more Yugo squirmed.

‘ _I can’t lose now, not here, not like this,_ ’ he thought, everything around him blurring and darkening as his air supply was slowly cut off.

 

Shinji stumbled, nearly falling face first into a console as a massive explosion rocked the Underground, sending everyone screaming for the exits as fast as they could.

‘ _What the devil was that?_ ’ he wondered as he steadied himself against a wall. ‘ _I hope Yugo wasn’t caught in that-Yugo!_ ’ Panic set in and he took off running in the direction he last remembered seeing Yugo go in.

“Hey Shinji, aren’t you going the wrong way?” asked one of the duelists, Shinji stopping only when he was called out to.

“There’s, someone I need to find, go on ahead without me,” he said before taking off again.

Yugo was just a kid, and he wasn’t going to let anything to happen to him. He’d already let Rin down when she got hurt, no killed, during the failed break in; he couldn’t have another kid’s death on his hands, if Yugo could even die a second time.

As Shinji ran towards the source of the explosion, everyone else, workers and Security alike, ran away from it, making it fairly easy to figure out where it came from.

“Yugo!”

His heart raced as he ran, pushing past the steady low of prisoners and guards. All the worst scenarios ran through his mind and he worried what he might find when he found Yugo. And the unconscious, or worse, duelists, that lay scattered about painted an even grimmer picture.

It wasn’t hard to locate him; the area had been utterly devastated by something large; a duel had most certainly taken place there.

“Yugo!” he called out again. “Are you here?”

Rounding on the area he stopped in his tracks as the horrific scene met his eyes.

Yugo was collapsed in an unmoving heap, surrounded by tiny blue shards of, something, glass or crystal he couldn’t tell. Opposite him, crumpled against the wall, was Sergey Volkov, arms detached at his forearms and a hole blown clean through his chest. More of the blue crystalline substance jutted out of his limbs. Instead of the expected blood and viscera and exposed bones and organs, Shinji instead was greeted by wires and metal and the inner workings of some machine where the skin had been torn away.

Between them was ground zero of the explosion that Shinji had felt moments earlier, a giant hole in the ground.

‘ _That’s not the result of any duel I know of,_ ’ he thought, circumnavigating it to get to Yugo.

Yugo looked like he’d been steamrollered, covered in bruises, cuts and scrapes. More worrying to Shinji, were the bruises around his neck and his lack of movement.

“Come on Yugo, wake up,” he said, shaking his shoulder lightly. Yugo moaned slightly, but didn’t stir or make any attempt to move. ‘ _Well you’re not getting out of here under your own power that’s for sure,_ ’ thought Shinji as he scooped up the unmoving teen, one arm hooked around his shoulders, the other under his knees.

 

NO SIGNAL

The words flashed up on the screen before Roger, where only moments earlier he had been watching the vital signs for Sergey.

“No! No!” He slammed his hands down on the table, “Where is Sergey, what is going on down there?”

No matter how much he yelled, or how many buttons he pressed, the signal refused to return, which could mean one thing, Sergey hadn’t just lost, he’d been eliminated.

“Sir, sir we’re getting some, readings from the Underground!” came the voice of one of the techs.

“What is it?”

“It was that explosion sir, it seems to have, triggered something.”

Roger frowned; he’d thought he’d heard something just before losing all contact, but he couldn’t be sure.

“Explosion?”

“Yes sir, a few moments ago there was a massive release of energy from the Underground. And we’re, getting some strange readings, have a look for yourself sir.”

Roger turned his attention to another screen as the tech transmitted the readings to him, and frowned. The explosion had come from somewhere that he’d previously cordoned off so he could have it studied and examined. The strange crystals that had appeared there were of interest to both him and The Professor. They gave off strong energy readings, but no matter what he did he could not tap into it or even make a dent in them. They were harder than any substance he’d ever encountered, which only made them more valuable in his eyes.

But more important than the crystals, was the building located on the surface not far from their location, the building housing the dimensional transport system. And the readings he was now getting from there was worrying.

“It seems that the explosion, it must have shorted something out sir,” said the tech. “The build up of energy is only growing, and there’s no sign of it stopping anytime soon.”

Roger tightened his fists; to say this was bad would be an understatement, it was a disaster.

“We need to stop this, if that energy continues to build it will rip this dimension in half.”

 

“Is everyone alright?” asked Rin as they slowly picked themselves up off the ground, the pain finally subsiding.

“He got Sora,” said Yuya, clenching his fists. “He took Sora and I couldn’t stop him.”

Yuzu placed a hand on his shoulder, “We’ll get him back Yuya, I promise.”

“What if we can’t? What if they…” he trailed off and shook his head, he didn’t even want to think about what they would do to Sora. “I promised him that they wouldn’t get him and I failed.”

“They only got away because of that, well I don’t know what that was, but it couldn’t be good,” said Rin. “After all whatever it was, it only affected us. Come on, we need to find Yugo he might be in trouble. So get up Yuya, moping won’t help save Sora or anyone.”

Yuya clenched his jaw, wiping away the tears that blurred his vision as he stood up. “Fine, but we have to save Sora. Yuri said Dennis was planning on handing them over to The Professor, so he probably went back to the Fusion dimension.”

“And we’ll follow, once we get Yugo.” She looked around and sighed, the Solid Vision monsters had since vanished, “We’ll have to continue on foot. We’re not to far anyways, only a few blocks away.”

Yuya nodded, “I can feel him, we’re close but, I think something’s wrong.”

“What do you mean?” asked Yuzu.

“I can feel his presence, just like I can feel Yuto and Yuri when we’re near, but something’s wrong. I think he might be in trouble.”

“Then we should hurry,” said Rin.

As they headed off down the road, they didn’t notice the way the air rippled and twisted around them.

 

Yugo was still unconscious by the time Shinji left the Underground, now slumped over Shinji’s back, head on his shoulder. The most he’d done was groan a few times, the only indication that he wasn’t dead.

“Man, what did you do to yourself down there?” asked Shinji as he stopped beside their rides. “You look like crap.”

A chill rolled down his spine and Shinji looked up in time to see the air distort and twist before him, before returning to normal.

“What the hell?” He turned his head to look at Yugo, “I’m sure this is your fault somehow.”

“Yugo!”

Shinji looked around at the sound of Rin’s voice, soon spotting her running down the road towards them, Yuya and Yuzu in tow.


	47. Synchro Arc part 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here it is, the end of the Synchro Arc! It's been a long time coming, and it's finally here.  
> which means next week is an interlude between chapters, then we start the Xyz arc.  
> Depending on how much I manage to write, I may or may not take a week off from updates after the Interlude. I'll let you know next week(basically, if I take a week off you'll get an update on the 18th, then I'll take the 28th off and the next update after that would be on the 4th).
> 
> And the 'scene jumping' in this chapter is because everything is happening at the same time.

Rin’s hands trembled as she took Yugo from Shinji, treating him as if he were a fragile doll.

“What happened to him?” she asked.

“I’m not entirely sure,” admitted Shinji, rubbing the back of his head. “We split up when we got underground, and when I found him he was like this. I think he might have been caught in the large explosion.”

“Explosion?”

He nodded, “There was an explosion down there, and from the looks of the place and his opponent, ground zero was where he was.”

She traced a hand gingerly along Yugo’s face, along the curve of his jaw and up along the side of his face, pushing hair aside. “I need to get him back. Ruri might be able to help.”

“Where’s Crow, wasn’t he with you?” asked Shinji.

“We split, the place I needed to check was a dud so he headed off to make sure our allies were alright,” explained Rin. “And I headed to find Yugo.”

Shinji nodded, and, for the first time, caught sight of Yuya and Yuzu. “Who the heck are you?”

“They’re friends,” said Rin quickly, “It’s a long story, but they’re like Yugo and I.” She looked down at Yugo and frowned before looking back to Yuya and Yuzu. “I really don’t want to just leave you here, but I need to get Yugo back to the Barian World, before his condition gets worse.”

Yuya nodded, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder, “Don’t worry, we’ll be fine on our own for a little while.”

“I’m going to find Crow, make sure he hasn’t gotten himself in trouble,” said Shinji, pulling his helmet back on as he mounted his D-Wheel. “Seems like you lot probably don’t need my help any more.” Without another word, he was off down the road.

“I promise I’ll be back soon,” said Rin, turning to Yuya and Yuzu as she hefted Yugo into her arms, using the D-Wheel to steady herself so she could open a portal.

In the blink of an eye, they were gone.

“I guess we should find everyone else then,” said Yuzu.

 

Tsukikage bounded over the rooftops as he left the Underground. He’d followed Yugo into the Underground, only to lose track of him among the workers.

The appearance of the menacing duelist, whom he later learned was named Sergey, halted his investigation. The man was large and taking out every duelist and non-duelist in his way, and the ninja wasn’t about to cross him.

Unfortunately, Sergey had his sights on Yugo as well, and by the time Tsukikage did make it down there, he was literally choking the life out of him.

He got only a few steps towards them when he noticed a strange glow around Yugo’s hands. Tsukikage wasn’t sure what it was, but he doubted it was anything good, and moments later, the Underground was rocked by a violent explosion, and Tsukikage thrown into the wall behind him and knocked out cold.

When he came too, Yugo was gone and Sergey had been blow to pieces, revealing his very inhuman nature. Still, he wasn’t going to leave empty handed.

Tsukikage paused a moment to examine the small blue shards he’d gathered off the ground. Whatever they were, Reiji was sure to find use of them. He only needed a few fragments of crystal to study anyways.

For a moment, out of the corner of his eye he swore the air around him distorted and warped, but when he looked back it was perfectly normal.

The ninja shook his head; he was seeing things, no doubt a result of hitting his head, and quickly shook it off as a trick of his eyes before heading back to where Akaba Reiji was waiting.

 

With Sora and Dennis gone, and Security now swarming the Tops sector, Shun decided that it would be in their best interests to go back, and head towards the Security Headquarters. His only reasoning was that they could use it instead; it might give them a chance to find Reiji.

Sawatari complained, but there was little he could do once Gongenzaka picked him up and tossed over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

 

Roger ground his teeth in frustration as he studied the screen of the transport system before him. He’d managed to stem the overflowing energy, by diverting it. But that produced another problem. Instead of building up in one place it was being pumped out in small bursts, bursts which seemed to be producing strange fluctuations of dimensional energy all around the city. He needed to get those under control before the city noticed and fell into a panic.

“Sir! It seems that our, guests, are converging on the Security Building.”

“Is that so?” He pressed his fingers together as he studied the screen. “Perhaps we can deal with several birds with one stone.”

 

A low rumbling from outside silenced the protests of the Council as Akaba Reiji made his way to the door. He came to a stop and a dark shape materialized beside him, seemingly out of nowhere. The figure leaned over, whispering something to him.

“Is that so?” asked Reiji and the figure nodded. “I see, thank you Tsukikage.” He spun on his heel to face the Council, Reira clinging tightly to his arm. “If you still believe that Roger is on your side, then I suggest you take a look outside and look towards the Security building.”

Murmurs of confusion flitted between them and they turned back to Reiji, who had already started towards the door.

“You cannot just leave.”

“What is it you think we will see outside?”

“I just told you, take a look for yourselves. Or have you grown so complacent that the act of looking out the window is now impossible for you to do on your own?” he asked curtly, not even giving them the benefit of looking back. “Come Reira, Tsukikage, it seems we must gather our allies.”

As they stepped outside, Reira inched closer to his brother, trembling as he looked towards the Security building.

 

The sky above the Security building had begun to churn with dark clouds, lightning leaping between them and streaking to the ground with crashes that shook the city. Energy in the air around the building began to crackle, warping and distorting the space like a wave of heat. With each passing moment, the clouds expanded outwards till the covered an area of several square blocks around the Security Building.

 

“Look up there, what is that?” asked Sawatari, pointing to the strange clouds in the sky around the Security building, clouds that were soon above them. “That’s the strangest storm I’ve ever seen.”

“I don’t think that’s a natural storm,” said Shun, eyeing the clouds warily. “So be careful.”

 

“Yuya, I have a bad feeling about those clouds,” said Yuzu, inching close to him. “Can’t you feel it?”

Yuya nodded, “That energy, it feels like dimensional energy, the kind we feel when we move between dimension.”

Yuzu frowned, “It’s like, a giant portal. I don’t like this Yuya, I don’t like this one bit.”

 

“If my Security is going to be so incompetent that they can’t even catch a few children, then I will take matters into my own hands.”

The computer hummed as Roger flipped switches and slid dials from their lowest settings to the highest ones.

“After all, I’m sure The Professor would love to meet these Lancers face to face. And see his son again.”

The lightning flashed outside, spreading through the dark clouds before streaking to the ground with a crash as the blinding light began to spread.

Then the tears began to appear.

 

Sawatari screamed as the air in front of them twisted and tore open, revealing a desolate looking green void. The wind howled and roared as it was pulled into the tear, the force ripping Sawatari right off his feet.

“Don’t you dare let this thing take me!” he screamed, clinging onto Gongenzaka’s arm for dear life.

“Gongenzaka, isn’t sure he has much of a choice,” replied the synchro duelist, the force of the void slowly dragging him towards it. “So we might both be going through.”

“We have to fight it, there’s no telling what’s on the other side,” yelled Shun, grabbing Gongenzaka’s other arm in a futile attempt to keep himself from going anywhere.

“Somehow I think we’re about to find out!” Sawatari clenched his eyes shut as they were dragged nearer and nearer to the portal, the deafening roar of the wind soon the only thing he could hear.

 

Yuya acted on instinct, wrapping is arms around Yuzu when the tear appeared before them. Who or whatever was causing it couldn’t be anything good, and every fiber of his body told him to run away.

“Yuya, I can’t hold on!” she cried, feeling herself slipping from his arms. “Don’t let go please!”

“I’m trying to-Yuzu!” Yuya found himself holding empty air as Yuzu was plucked from his arms by the howling portal before him and dragged through it. “No, Yuzu!” Without a second thought, Yuya leapt after her, diving through the portal. The moment Yuya hit the portal the whole world went white.

 

For a few long moments, it seemed as if the entire Security Building had been engulfed in white light, streaking down from the churning clouds above. Then it vanished, flickering out like an extinguished candle, and with it, came the end of the tremors, the tears and the rumbling.

Ignoring the cries of the Council behind him, Reiji took off towards the Security building, Tsukikage and Reira close behind him.

 

“What happened here?” asked Reiji, narrowing his eyes as he stared at the scene before him.

Empty, the Security Headquarters were empty. The workers had fled the moment the shaking and lights started, and hadn’t returned, and Roger, Roger was gone. Tsukikage and Reiji scoured the building top to bottom and found no sign of him. The only thing to indicate that something had happened inside was the fact that one of the nearby buildings had a portion that was just, missing. The floor and part of a walkway had crumbled into nothingness in one room, though no debris could be found, and the computer system was a smoking wreck.


	48. Interlude

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here we are, an Interlude. Which means the next update will be the first of the 'Xyz arc'. 
> 
> On that note, THERE WILL BE NO UPDATE NEXT WEEK!
> 
> While I still have a buffer, it is shrinking so I'm giving myself the time to write and build it back up(so as to avoid catching up and needing to take more than just a week off).   
> So the next update will be March 4th. 
> 
> Also this update puts the fic now over 100k in the word count department. Wow.
> 
> And a big thanks to everyone who's still reading this. I'm, amazed, both at the fact that I'm still writing it and that people are still reading and enjoying it.

Masumi sighed, drawing her knees up to her chest as she sat on the upper balcony, looking out over Maiami bay.

It had been a quiet day, and quiet days were good, because it meant things were calm and peaceful, a rarity it seemed recently.

“There you are, we were beginning to wonder where you got off too.” The door that lead to the balcony clanged shut and she winced at the sound, it was so loud in the silence of the evening.

“Yaiba.”

The Synchro duelist sat down beside her, kendo staff leaning on his shoulder.

“Any news?” she asked.

He shook his head, “Nothing new. Michio and Teppei are going on a grocery run first thing in the morning, said we’re getting down on things to eat.” He frowned, “They said we might have to start rationing things even more to make it last longer.”

“I see.” She drew her knees closer, digging her fingers into the fabric of her dirt stained leggings.

Yaiba frowned, usually she would say more than that, especially since they had a whole day to catch up on. Masumi was being uncharacteristically quiet. “It’s Hokuto isn’t it?” he asked. She gripped her knees tighter and he had his answer. “You know it’s not your fault right? There was nothing you could have done.”

“I was right there Yaiba, right there!” she said. “I just wasn’t fast enough. I wasn’t strong enough.”

“We’ll get him back Masumi,” he said, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze. “And we’ll make them pay.”

“We better. I’ll make them wish they’d never crossed us.”

Yaiba grinned, “There’s the Masumi I know. Now come on, Michio wanted me to tell you to come down for dinner. Said you skipped breakfast and had next to nothing for lunch so he’ll be damned if you’re missin’ dinner.”

Masumi sighed and hung her head, as long as there was food and a way to prepare it, no one was going hungry on Michio’s watch.

“What about Mieru, any change?”

Yaiba shook his head as he stood up. “No change.”

“Right, I’ll bring her down for dinner.” Grabbing his hand she pulled herself to her feet and brushed herself off. “Now stop babying me would you? It’s weird.” There was a soft thump as she struck his shoulder playfully. “Come on, let’s go eat.”

 

Sitting around the small table, Masumi did a silent headcount of everyone; Yaiba, Teppei, Michio, Mieru and herself made five, plus the three kids, huddled together on one side made eight, so everyone was accounted for. It was a nightly ritual she’d taken to doing, counting everyone at dinner to make sure no one was missing, to make sure everyone had come home.

“Alright everyone, dinner is served!” said Michio brightly as he set a pot in the center of the table. “Dig in!”

Silence descended over the room as everyone began to eat, the soft clinking of cutlery the only sound to be heard.

“Ah, Masumi, Teppei and I are going on a grocery run in the morning, we’re getting down,” said Michio. “And to look for something to fix that fridge with, before it gives out.”

Teppei grumbled something under his breath and Michio frowned before sticking him with a sharp elbow to the ribs. “Ok, ok, I’ll go, geeze. No need to be rough.”

She nodded, “Just be careful.” They needed all the people they could find if they wanted to survive, to lose even one person, no matter whom, would be a disaster.

 

The building wasn’t old, but it creaked and groaned at every little thing after the beaten it had taken, and it was next to impossible to sneak through it, something Masumi now considered a good thing. She’d been drifting in and out of a light sleep all night when she heard footsteps scamper down the hall.

A flash of panic rushed through her and she snapped awake, grabbing her duel disk from where it lay beside her. She momentarily debated on waking everyone, if it was trouble they all needed to be alert, caught asleep could be a death sentence. But, it only sounded like one person, one small person at that, if they were trouble she could take them on her own, and that commotion would wake everyone as it was.

Deciding they should get some much-needed sleep, she headed in the direction she’d heard the feet go, up.

The only thing up was the roof, more of a balcony really, so duel disk armed and ready, she bounded up the stairs to outside.

She threw open the door; ready for a fight, and stopped when she saw a puff of familiar red hair.

“It’s only you,” she said, lowering her arm as she made her way to Mieru’s side. “Can’t sleep?”

The girl shook her head, knees drawn up close to her chest and arms wrapped around them.

“Something on your mind?”

Masumi didn’t know the girl that well; fate had only thrown them into each other’s paths a few days earlier, not long after things had gone south. Still, even she could tell that something was bothering her, even more than usual.

“I’m scared,” she said after a moment.

“I think everyone is.”

Mieru shook her head, “I’m scared of what will happen when it comes.”

Ah, that prediction again.

‘ _The darkness is coming._ ’

For a time that was all they could manage from her as she clutched her crystal apple tightly, shaking in fear. One of them had asked her to read the future, perhaps in the hopes of getting a glimpse of hope. Instead she’d screamed as if she’d seen a ghost, hands shaking as they held the crystal, and repeating the same phrase over and over.

“We won’t be able to stop it, and it scares me.”

“You and everyone else kid,” said Masumi with a sigh. “But don’t worry about it, we’ll deal with whatever is thrown our way.” She placed a hand on Mieru’s head, ruffling the girl’s thick, curly hair. “I promise.”

For a time the sat on the roof, Mieru with her knees drawn up and staring into her lap silently while Masumi kept watch beside her, gazing up at the moon in the hazy sky. The stars were barely visible through the film of clouds that blanketed the sky and as she looked, she felt tears begin to fill her eyes.

 

_“Masumi, Yaiba, run!” Hokuto called, duel disk blade materializing as he turned to face his opponents. “I’ll show these goons what LDS is all about, and join you later.”_

_“But­–”_

_“I said run!”_

_Masumi didn’t wait to be told again, reluctantly turning and leaving her friend behind as she limped off, her leg throbbing with what would turn into a large, ugly bruise along her shin._

_The next time she saw Hokuto was awful. There were three of them, dressed in red jackets and with duel disks shaped like shields, the blades swords._

_“Look, it’s the ones that got away,” said one of them, pointing at Masumi and Yaiba. “To bad about your friend.”_

_Masumi tensed, “What did you do with Hokuto?” She wished she’d never asked, because one of them responded by pulling out something from his jacket and throwing it to her. It was a card, a card with Hokuto on it._

_“You bastards!”_

 

Masumi trembled; she still had his card, she had all the cards of their fallen comrades in fact. How could things have gone south so fast? One day everything was normal, or as normal as could be after that tournament, and the next it was as if hell rained down on them.

A gentle weight pressed against her shoulder, pulling her out of her thoughts and Masumi glanced down to see that Mieru had fallen asleep and was leaning against her.

‘ _At least you can sleep,_ ’ she thought, looking down at Mieru. Carefully, she twisted around, moving to scoop a sleeping Mieru up. ‘ _Let’s get you back to bed, you’ll catch a cold sleeping out here._ ’

Mieru stirred but didn’t wake as Masumi stood up, holding her in her arms.

She carried Mieru inside and back to her room, carefully tucking her under a blanket; there weren’t any proper beds so they’d had to make do with what was available.

‘ _At least someone can sleep tonight,_ ’ she thought, closing the door quietly behind her.

Returning to her room she leaned against the window and gazed out across the silent, ruined city. Masumi sighed, ‘the darkness was coming’ huh? If she didn’t know any better, she would have said the darkness had already come to Maiami city.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bet no one expected this huh? 
> 
>  
> 
> And before you question how Michio and Teppei are there, I never actually specified who was fighting with Sawatari and company that was carded before Shun and Sora jumped in. So they got to live.


	49. Xyz Arc part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And so begins the third arc of this big-ass fic.  
> I can't believe I made it this for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now we get to see what happened to everyone. Yay.  
> Well, not yay for them.

One minute, Yuto and Ruri were enjoying a rare moment of quiet, the next there was a soft pop and a frantic looking Rin appeared in the middle of the room, accompanied by a D-Wheel and an unconscious Yugo.

“Ruri! It’s Yugo, he needs help, he’s been hurt!” she exclaimed, dropping to her knees as she held Yugo, who lay in her arms as limp as a rag doll.

“What happened?” asked Yuto, sprinting to her side.

“I’m not entirely sure,” said Rin. “I think he was attacked by someone. Ruri, can you help him? You healed him before.”

“I can try,” she said, kneeling down beside him, “But he looks pretty bad, this might be beyond even me.”

Yugo looked like he’d been dragged through the dirt, several times in fact, his form battered and bruised. His throat bore the brunt of his attack though, covered in thick, dark bruises.

Tentatively, Ruri held her hand over Yugo, a soft light encompassing it. Yugo groaned in pain, moving under her touch.

“Oh Yugo, who did this to you?” asked Rin, stroking his hair with one hand.

“Where’s Yuya and Yuzu, are they alright?” asked Yuto.

Rin shook her head, “I don’t know, the last time I saw them they were in Synchro, going to look for the rest of the Lancers,” she said. “But, knowing them, they should be fine.”

Ruri sighed and lowered her hand, “I’ve done what I can, but I can only take care of the surface injuries. He’s been beaten pretty badly and he needs rest. Let’s move him somewhere else.”

Adjusting her hold on him, Rin shifted Yugo so Ruri and Yuto could help pull him to his feet, slinging him between the girls.

“Did you have any luck finding the crystals?” asked Yuto as they walked.

Rin shook her head, “No, at least not on my end of things. The area was completely barren. I don’t know about Yugo, but if what we felt was any indication, I think his luck was better.”

“Felt?”

She nodded, “There was this, wave of energy, but it only affected us. I’m sure it was Barian energy.”

“Then he found the crystals then?” asked Ruri.

“I don’t know,” admitted Rin. “But if that energy was anything to go on, then yes I think he did.”

Ruri nodded before turning to Yuto. “Yuto, if you could?”

“Of course.” He stepped away from Yugo and made his way towards a large crystal they’d stopped at. He placed a hand on the crystal’s smooth surface and exhaled deeply. Rin watched in surprise as the crystal began to melt away, revealing a hollow inside.

“Here, help me put him in,” said Ruri, slipping an arm around Yugo’s waist.

“Wait, in there, why?” asked Rin.

“It can do what I can’t. It’ll speed up the healing process, and replenish his energy,” she explained.

Rin reach out, brushing Yugo’s cheek gently with one hand as he lay against the back of the crystals. “And you think it’ll help?”

Ruri nodded, placing a hand on Rin’s shoulder comfortingly. “He just needs some time.”

Pulling her hand back, Rin watched as the crystals closed around Yugo, encasing him in a sort of cocoon.

“Oh Yugo, please get better.” She closed her eyes, leaning her forehead against the barrier separating them, a tear rolling down her cheek.

 

Sawatari screamed as he was flung head first through the howling portal, sucked in as if it were a tornado. This was not how he had envisioned his day going, not one bit. He threw his arms in front of his face, bracing himself as he hurtled through the seemingly endless void.

The howling stopped abruptly as cold air whipped at his skin and Sawatari felt gravity work once again on him, dragging him down.

He wasn’t sure what kind of landing he expected, hard maybe as he was hurtled face first towards the ground. Whatever it was, he was not expecting something soft under him. And he definitely wasn’t expecting it to speak.

Lowering his arms and opening his eyes, he found he had landed not on the ground, but on Gongenzaka’s back, who shifted under him and sent him rolling off and into the dirt.

Sawatari yelped in surprise as he hit the ground roughly, kicking up a cloud of dust. For a moment he just lay there, staring up at the overcast sky. Wherever they were, it wasn’t the Synchro dimension any more.

“Are we dead?” he asked finally.

“No,” grunted Shun, somewhere off to his right.

“Oh.” Satisfied that he was alive, and having finally caught his breath, Sawatari sat up, and wished he hadn’t.

They’d landed in a wasteland, or at least on outskirts of the burned out remains of some city. It was dead silent, save for the wind that moaned through the empty shells that had once been buildings. The sky was dark with clouds and smoke, and there wasn’t a living thing to be seen aside from the three of them.

“What is this place?” he asked. “It looks like a total dump.”

“This is what’s left of my home,” said Shun, looking out over the debris field. “This is, Heartland.”

 

Yuya groaned, rubbing his head as he rolled onto his stomach, wincing in pain as he moved. The last thing he remembered was leaping through a strange portal after Yuzu, the wind howling around him like a pack of wolves.

“Yuzu!” His eyes snapped open as he hauled himself to his hands and knees. “Yuzu!” He had to find her; he had to make sure she was ok. Who knew where that portal had spit them out, and in what condition. If Yuzu was hurt… Yuya shook his head, quickly dismissing the thought; no Yuzu was more resilient than that. He wasn’t even going to entertain that idea, it was too horrible a thought to think about.

Gritting his teeth he pulled himself to his feet, biting back the pain that lanced through him. He was definitely bruised.

Once on his feet he looked around, hoping to figure out where he was. His first thought was a junkyard with how much scrap was around him. Then his gaze swept over something that froze him to the spot. Climbing equipment, a string of monkey bars, a fireman’s pole, a mini bridge, and a slide. Or at least, what was left of one, the metal a twisted wreck and the plastic melted beyond recognition or use.

Dry, scorched grass crunched under his feet as he walked, the ground seared by some massive fire.

Yuya shivered, it was so quiet, like a ghost town.

“Yuzu!” He called out for her again, hoping and praying for a response.

“Yuya!”

He spun around at the sound of his name as Yuzu ran towards him. She was unharmed, a bit dirty from her landing, but otherwise seemed unhurt.

“I’m so glad,” she exclaimed, wrapping her arms around him.

Yuya returned the hug enthusiastically, thankful that she was unharmed. “Where do you think we are?” he asked, slowly releasing her as he looked around. “Do you think we landed in the Xyz dimension?” He may not have know what it looked like, but from the way Shun and Yuto had spoken about it, it didn’t sound like there was very much left of it, and where ever they were was pretty torn up.

Yuzu bit her lip hesitantly and shook her head. “We’re not in the Xyz dimension Yuya,” she said, taking his hands in hers.

Yuya frowned, “What do you mean, were are we?”

Gripping his hand tightly, she dragged him down the road, past half destroyed buildings and streets that had been torn up by something large. Streets that seemed vaguely familiar to him.

“Yuzu?”

“I saw it when I woke up, before I went looking for you,” she said, voice tightening as she squeezed his hand.

Yuya felt his stomach knot in uncertainty, her reluctance to say anything bothered him, just where had they landed? This wasn’t the Synchro dimension, unless they’d ended up across the world or something. Had they landed in Fusion?

Yuzu stopped abruptly and Yuya nearly collided with her back as he skidded to a stop. Lifting her other hand, she pointed ahead and as he looked in the direction she pointed he felt the colour drain from his face.

“No.”

Far off, easily several blocks away, was a large, unmistakable building. The top half was missing, and all the glass in the windows had been shattered by a powerful force. Even so, Yuya would recognize that building’s hourglass shape anywhere, just as easily as he could recognize the large, domed out structure that lay in the middle of the water, the bridges out to it smashed to pieces. The Leo Duel School and the Maiami Stadium.

“We’re not in the Xyz dimension, because we’re home,” said Yuzu, fighting back tears.

 

Mieru screamed, chucking her crystal ball across the room in a blind panic, trying to put as much distance between it and her as possible. Moments later Masumi and Yaiba burst through the door and into the room, duel disks primed and ready.

“Mieru!”

The small duelist whimpered as she buried her face in her hands, shaking like a dry leaf in a tornado.

“Man, she threw this hard,” said Yaiba with a low whistle as he picked up the crystal apple, a hairline crack running through the surface of the otherwise unblemished glass.

“Mieru, are you alright?” asked Masumi, kneeling down beside her. “What happened?”

Timidly, Mieru raised her head as she looked up at Masumi. “It’s here,” she said quietly.

“What’s here?”

“The darkness, it’s here. The darkness is here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you really think I'd split up Yuya and Yuzu? I had to deal with that in canon, why would I want to write it?  
> No they get to deal with this together. Which may or may not be a good thing.
> 
> And I have no idea if that's actually how the got in the crystals, as we never saw how Alito and Gilag were put in them while they recovered, so I'm guessing.


	50. Xyz Arc part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize in advance. 
> 
>  
> 
> Pls don't kill me.

It took everything Yuya had to keep from collapsing as he looked at what once had been Maiami City.

“What happened?” he asked. “How could this happen?”

“This is wrong,” said Yuzu, shaking her head. “When we left everything was fine, this, this isn’t right.”

The city was large and bustling and always noisy, but now it was as silent as a ghost town, not a person in sight. Everything was in ruins, razed to the ground by some destructive force.

Yuya gripped her hand tightly, the other closing around his pendulum as a lump formed in his throat. This couldn’t possibly be their home there was no way.

“What do you think did this?” he asked.

“I don’t know.” Yuzu turned to him nervously, “What do you think happened to everyone?”

The pit in Yuya’s stomach only deepened and he tightened his grip on his pendant and her hand. “I don’t know. But we won’t find out by just standing here.” As he looked back towards the ruined LDS building he felt something bubble up inside him, a feeling of rage he’d never felt before. Who could do this to his home, and why? Whoever it was, if he found them he was going to make them pay, no one was getting away with this.

“Yuya?”

“Come on, lets see if we can find someone. Let’s start with the school,” he said, turning sharply on his heel. “And if we can’t find anyone, maybe we can at least figure out what happened here.”

 

Yuya kept hold of her hand as they walked, heart hammering in his chest with each step he took. His home, it was in ruins. What could have happened, who or what could have done something like that?

“Yuya?”

He stopped abruptly as her voice penetrated his thoughts. “Yuzu?”

“You don’t suppose, that Academia came here, do you?” she asked.

“I hope not.” He really hoped this was the result of some kind of natural disaster, and not something worse.

“It’s so quiet,” she said, eyes scanning the ruined buildings. “Where do you suppose everyone went?”

“Out of the city I hope.” The other option was, unthinkable.

Bits of cement and glass crunched like dry leaves under foot, the sound impossibly loud in the quiet. Even at night, Yuya had never known Maiami city to be this silent; it was uncomfortable and eerie.

“Or maybe they’re inside, it is getting dark,” he said, looking towards the cloudy sky. “We should find somewhere to lay low too. At least until it gets lighter out.”

A loud crash split the silence and they froze in place.

“Will you keep it down? We don’t need the whole city knowing we’re out here,” hissed an annoyed voice.

Yuya tensed, they weren’t alone out there after all.

“Who’s there?” he called.

“Great, now look what you’ve done,” growled the annoyed voice. “You better watch out, we’ll fight you!”

Yuya and Yuzu exchanged a look; whoever it was didn’t sound all that confident, despite their threat.

“We don’t want to fight!” said Yuya.

“L-liar, you people always want to fight,” came a second voice, more nervous than the first.

Yuya frowned, what were they talking about?

“Who always wants to fight?” he asked. “We just want to know what happened here.”

The speakers shuffled around and the glow of duel disks lit up the darkening street as two people made their way towards them.

“We’re warning you, we won’t go down easily,” said the first speaker as he stepped into view. Orange-red hair and pink bangs framed his face, and a streak of dirt marred his cheek. He wore a deep blue bandanna around his neck and the sleeves of his shirt had been pushed up to his elbows. He tossed the bag he was holding to his companion, who was already laden with bags and supplies, and kept his duel disk raised.

While the redhead was tall and lanky, his companion was the opposite. His own duel disk glowed in the dim light, revealing a jacket and vest combo and fingerless gloves. A similar blue bandanna was wrapped around his upper arm, opposite his duel disk.

Yuya held up his hands as he took a half step back, they didn’t look like Academia duelists, or at least they didn’t look like Obelisk Force.

“We don’t want to fight,” said Yuzu. “Please, just tell us what happened.”

Yuya squinted as he looked between the two duelists, he hadn’t noticed it before, but there was something vaguely familiar about the redhead. His voice, he was sure he’d heard it somewhere before.

“Wait, I know who you are!” he exclaimed, pointing at the teen. “My mom watches you on t.v all the time, you’re Michio Mokota right?”

“H-how do you know my name?”

“I told you, my mom watches your cooking show all the time.”

“He could be lying,” said Michio’s dark haired companion, “It’s not like it it’s a secret you were on t.v.”

“You’re not helping Teppei.”

So, Teppei was the other one. Yuya didn’t know who that was, but if he was with Michio then he was definitely a Standard duelist. Before he could say anything more, a new voice, this time female, joined the commotion.

“Alright, what’s going on here?”

 

Sawatari fidgeted nervously as they walked through the ruins of Heartland. For once he wished he’d kept his mouth shut.

‘It looks like a total dump’ what a brilliant thing to just blurt out like that, what a way to just insult someone’s home.

“H-hey, where are we even going?” he asked, picking up the pace to try and keep up with Shun, who was taking long, deliberate strides.

Shun’s only response was a noncommittal grunt and a vague gesture to indicate that they should follow him.

Sawatari sighed, hunching his shoulders as he followed, barely keeping pace with either Shun or Gongenzaka. This was going to be a very long, quiet walk.

 

“Put your duel disks on the ground, and turn around and face me,” said the female voice. “Slowly.”

Yuya hesitated; taking their duel disks off would leave them defenseless and vulnerable. “Why, you already have us out numbered 3-2.”

“Numbers don’t matter, we’ve been out numbered before and still pulled through. Now put them on the ground.”

He looked at his duel disk before slowly unclasping it from his wrist and setting it by his feet. Yuzu watched him before following suit and turning to face the new speaker.

As they turned, the girl’s eyes widened and she nearly dropped her raised arm. “Wait, I know you two! You’re Sakaki Yuya, and Hiiragi Yuzu right?”

They looked at each other in confusion before looking back at the dark haired girl, “Uh, yeah but how do you know who we are?” asked Yuya. “And who are you?”

She sighed, lowering he arm and indicating for the other two to do the same. “Everyone at LDS heard about your, accident, with Sawatari. I mean our main duel field was closed for months because after that.” She folded her arms over her chest, shifting her weight on her feet, “The name’s Masumi Kotsu. Now grab your disk and let’s get going, it’s not safe to just be standing around out here, not now.”

“Will you tell us what’s going on, what happened here?” asked Yuya.

“Once we’re back at the base, because I have questions for the two of you as well. Like, where the hell have you been?”

 

The base turned out to be the Maiami Stadium, though how they were supposed to get out to it, Yuya wasn’t sure. The roadways were destroyed and there were no boats in sight.

Masumi grinned, “Just watch, Teppei, if you please, we need a ride across.”

“Oi, Michi, hold some of this, I need my hands,” he grunted, dropping several bags into Michio’s arms, causing him to stumble at the sudden increase of weight.

Yuya wasn’t sure what he was going to do, till Teppei drew a card and a large whale monster with a single horn appeared in the water.

“All aboard the Fortress Whale express.”

“How did you do that?” asked Yuya. If they’d been in the Synchro dimension he could see it, but Standard’s Solid vision, it wasn’t that solid except inside an Action Field.

“Modified Solid Vision,” replied Teppei with a grin as they climbed on the back of the large horned creature. “We stole it from those Academia jerks and hacked it into our duel disks.”

“We didn’t, Kyuando-kun did that for us,” corrected Michio.

Teppei shrugged, “Eh close enough, he’s one of us so same thing.”

“So it was Academia then,” said Yuya, head bowed.

Masumi nodded, “It was. They came not long after the Lancers left and did, this.”

“Where is everyone?” asked Yuzu.

Masumi gestured to the duel arena, “In there. It’s the only place big enough to house everyone, or, everyone that’s left anyways. I think they were trying to trap us there by destroying the roads. Instead we’ve made it a safe haven.” She turned to look at them over her shoulder, “So what about you, where on earth have you been? No one’s seen you since before the tournament.”

“We were with the Lancers,” said Yuya quickly. “We were in Synchro. We had no idea what was happening here.”

“I see.”

Fortress Whale came to a stop at the shoreline and one by one they dismounted, the monster vanishing once they were all on land.

“We’re going to take this to the kitchens and see if Kyuando-kun’s fixed the fridge yet,” said Michio.

Masumi nodded before turning to Yuya and Yuzu, “Can you come with me? We need to talk, in private.”

 

“What did you want to talk to us about?” asked Yuya as Masumi closed the door behind them.

“You said you’ve been in Synchro with the Lancers right? That means that this is the first time you’ve been back.”

Yuzu nodded, “That’s right, we didn’t even know that Academia had come here.”

Masumi sighed heavily, “Then you don’t know yet, this is just great.”

“Don’t know what?” asked Yuzu.

“Before I tell you, I am so, so sorry, and I really wish you didn’t have to find out like this.” As she spoke she slipped a hand into the vest she was wearing. “The other day while we were out, we ran into Ayu, Tatsuya and Futoshi. They’re safe don’t worry, we got them back here but, when we went to the Yusho Duel School,” she trailed off, a pained look crossing her face as she pulled out something, a couple things actually, that were small and brown, and handed them to Yuya and Yuzu. “I’m sorry, there was nothing we could do, it was already too late.”

Hesitantly, Yuya took the objects from her hands; they looked like duel monster cards and fear began to rise in his throat.

“No, please no.” Trembling, he turned them over and felt as if everything had come cashing down around him when he saw the front. “No, mom.”

Yuzu screamed, hands covering her mouth as tears began to fill her eyes. “No.”

Masumi had handed them two cards, one with Yoko’s face on it and one with Shuzo’s.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you forgot who Kyuando is don't worry, I don't blame you. It's the quiz show kid. No he probably won't actually appear, I just needed a name drop.


	51. Xyz Arc part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And it all comes crashing down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, you've probably all been waiting for this one.

With a wail, Yuzu sank to her knees, face in her hands, while Yuya could only stand there, numb with disbelief. His hands shook as he looked at the cards. This wasn’t right, it couldn’t be right. There was no way his mother would fall like that.

“What happened?” he asked.

“I only know what the kids told me, they said that the two of them, that Miss Yoko and Mr. Shuzo, were protecting them when they got attacked,” said Masumi. “I don’t know much more than that, you’ll have to talk to them. I can take you to the kids if you want.”

“They’re here?” asked Yuzu quietly and Masumi nodded. “Could you take us to them, please? I want to talk to them.” She turned her attention to Yuya, who’d gone quiet where he stood, head still bowed and cards clutched tightly in one hand. “Yuya?” He jumped when her hand reached for his free one gently, head snapping up with a jolt.

“Ah, Yuzu, I’m sorry.” His hand trembled under her touch as she stood up, fingers curling slightly around his. “Come on, why don’t we see the kids, I bet they’re scared and miss us,” he said, offering up the best smile he could.

 

“Big bro Yuya! Big sis Yuzu!”

The moment Yuya and Yuzu were spotted; the three kids practically flew towards them, wrapping their arms around them in a tight hug.

“We were so scared, we thought something had happened to you,” said Ayu, clinging to Yuzu.

“Teacher, and Miss Yoko, they’re, they’re,” Tatsuya trailed off as he held onto Yuya.

“Don’t worry, we’ll get them back,” said Yuya, placing a hand on his head, fighting off the tremble in his voice. “I promise.”

“What happened?” asked Yuzu. “How did they…?”

“The school was attacked by two scary ladies. Teacher and Miss Yoko told us to run,” said Ayu. “I’m sorry.”

Yuzu hugged the girl tightly, “It’s not your fault.”

The reunion was a mix of emotions, Yuya was glad that the kids were safe, and that so many had made it to safety-the repurposed arena was packed, the floor lined with makeshift beds, sleeping bags and pillows.

But what had happened to his mother and Shuzo still sat fresh in his mind and it hurt. He wanted to see her so badly, but all he could do was hold her card close and force himself to smile and not to cry, not in front of the kids.

He curled a hand around his pendulum, the same dark feeling bubbling up inside, the same one he’d felt when he saw what had happened to his dimension.

“I, I need some fresh air,” he said, turning quickly and leaving the room before they could stop him.

As he stepped out of the room he pulled his goggles over his face, tears spilling free and down his cheeks.

“No, mom.”

Gone, everyone was gone. His father was missing, his mother a card, Sora had been kidnapped and his dimension invaded and ravaged. Yuya clenched his jaw as his eyes burned, anger growing in his chest. Why, why did this have to happen? It wasn’t fair.

There was a thump as his hand hit the wall behind him, shoulders shaking as tears blurred his vision.

You Show Duel School, he had to go there, he had to see the place where it happened.

By the time Yuzu went to look for Yuya, he was already gone, a speck of light flying over the water.

 

Light Phoenix vanished as Yuya landed on the other side, plunging him into darkness. The sun had set fast, and with the heavy cloud cover it was even darker than usual. But even in the dark, Yuya knew the way; everything may have been in shambles but the route remained the same, he could have walked it in his sleep.

Gripping his pendulum tightly, he started off down the road, and towards the You Show Duel School.

‘ _Is this how Yuto feels?_ ’ he wondered, gripping his chest as he walked. It hurt, standing in his home like that, seeing it torn apart, it hurt.

He stopped as he came to the school, or at least what remained of it. A fight had certainly broken out there, and torn off half the building in the process. The roads were torn up and the Solid Vision system smashed beyond repair.

Yuya’s legs shook as he walked towards it, heart hammering in his chest. With each step it felt like his feet were made of lead and by the time he crossed the street he sank to his knees, pushing his goggles up with one hand as he stared at the burned out remains.

“No, no!”

He dropped his head into his hands, tears splashing in the dirt at his knees. Rage, sadness, pain, it all burned in his chest as a sob ripped free from his lips.

Everything, everything was gone. His home, his parents, Sora, it was as if everything was slipping through his fingers and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

Turning his face skyward he let out a cry of frustration.

“Hey, did you hear that?”

“Sounds like there might be a straggler.”

“I hope it’s a duelist this time, it’s no fun if we can’t duel first.”

Voices sounded from somewhere in the darkness and Yuya snapped his jaw shut. Someone else was out there, and by the sounds of it, not an ally.

Slowly, he rose to his feet, hands balling into fists at his sides. How dare they, how dare they walk around like this after what they did.

The sadness turned into rage and it felt like a fire had been lit under his skin. Tears dried on his cheeks as he made his way towards the voices, breath hitching in his throat. He was going to make them pay; he was going to make them suffer.

He rounded the corner on a pair of teens dressed in red jackets, who jumped slightly at his approach.

“There is someone here!” exclaimed one.

“He looks easy.”

“You,” growled Yuya. “How dare you!” He seethed, energy flaring around him dangerously as he raised his arm, duel disk materializing.

 

DUEL MODE: ENGAGED

ACTION FIELD: CROSS OVER

 

BATTLE ROYALE MODE

 

“Fine, we’ll take you both on!” sneered one of them, “And then you’ll be sorry.”

“I start! I summon Armoredog Cannon Boxer from my hand, which lets me special summon my Armoredog Bull Copter as well!”

Two mechanical dog-like monsters leapt onto the field, barking and snapping, their jaws clanging with each snap.

“Then I add one Fusion card to my hand from my Bull Copter’s effect, and then I activate it to fuse together my two dogs!”

 

_Ferocious guard dogs, hunt down your prey with steadfast determination!_

_Fusion Summon! Come Forth! Level 6! Full Armoredog Bull Fortress!_

 

A large metal bulldog appeared on the field, canons on its shoulders pointed and primed at Yuya.

“Then I activate my Bull Fortress’ effect and discard a Fusion card from my hand to increase its attack by 1000!”

The dog roared as its attack jumped from 2000 to 3000.

“I’ll end my turn there.”

“Now, I also summon a Cannon Boxer from my hand, and use it’s effect to special summon my Bull Copter.”

Yuya growled, watching as the second Academia duelist played his turn out like his companion. Like the first red jacketed duelist, he too fusion summoned a Bull Fortress to the field, except he didn’t raise its attack.

“Let’s see you take on these!”

Yuya’s gaze flicked to his hand, “I activate the spell Odd-Eyes Accel, allowing me to summon an Odd-Eyes monster from my hand without tributing. So come to the field, Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!” His voice was harsh, with an edge to it that hadn’t been there before and a growl seemed to rumble in his throat.

Odd-Eyes roared, shaking its head as it leapt to the field, mismatched eyes flashing.

“You’re going to fight us with that thing?” sneered one of them.

Yuya narrowed his eyes as he ended his turn, it was, for the time being, all he could do.

“If that’s all you’re going to do, then I attack your Odd-Eyes with my Bull Fortress!” The guns clicked one by one as they pointed towards Odd-Eyes, glowing as the charged up an attack. Shots fired from the canons, slamming into Odd-Eyes, the dragon howling as it was destroyed.

“Now it’s my turn, and I attack you directly!” The second Bull Fortress attacked and Yuya threw his arms in front of his face, bracing himself against the direct attack.

“Are you done?” he asked, seemingly unphased as he lowered his arms.

They gulped, sharing a nervous look before nodding. Yuya should have be afraid, should have been cowed, after all he was defenseless with no set cards and no monsters to protect him, while they had two monsters ready and waiting. Except that he wasn’t. He was mad, but not scared.

“It’s my turn, and now, I set the Pendulum Scale with my Scale 3 Xiangke Magician and my Scale 8 Timegazer Magician. And with that, I Pendulum Summon!”

Columns of light appeared on either side of him, the monsters and scale numbers appearing within each.

 

" _Swing, pendulum of souls! Draw an arc of light across the ether! Pendulum Summon! Come out! My monster servants!_ "

 

Light swirled between them and two shots burst towards the field.

 

" _Come forth, dazzling light of salvation that shines in the darkness of despair! Odd-Eyes Saber Dragon!_ "

" _Appear! One with wondrous and beautiful dichromatic eyes! Be reborn from my extra deck! Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon_!"

 

Once again, Odd-Eyes took to the field, but this time it wasn’t alone, it was joined by a second dragon. It had a sleeker build and its crimson body was clad in what looked like white and gold armour and it slapped its tail on the ground with a roar.

“Now I have two level 7 monsters on my field, and with them I can Xyz Summon! I overlay my level 7 Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, with my level 7 Odd-Eyes Saber Dragon!”

 

_Dragon with dual coloured eyes, storm forth and freeze all that falls within your gaze!_

_Xyz Summon!_

_Come forth! Rank 7!_

_Odd-Eyes Absolute Dragon!_

 

A harrowing cry echoed through the ruins of the duel school as a large dragon landed on the ground between them. Its purple body was adorned in ice crystals, running from head to tail, and a cross of ice crystals spreading from its back like wings. A layer of frost covered the ground under its feet as it touched down and it roared, the icy air rolling off it.

The duelists gulped, taking a step back, “An, Xyz summon?”

“Now, Odd-Eyes Absolute Dragon, attack Full Armoredog Bull Fortress!”

“You can’t, you monster is weaker than mine!”

Yuya smirked coldly, “Who said I was targeting yours? My target was your partner’s, the one with 2000 attack points! Now attack, Ice Crystal Wave!”

The crystals along its back began to shine, as if filling with light, and a beam formed between its jaws. With a roar it let loose a powerful blast, the white beam slamming into the weaker of the two monsters, destroying it before continuing on and slamming into the Academia duelist.

Yuya’s expression barely changed, watching as the fusion was user sent flying by the attack, stumbling and falling across the ground.

He seethed, hands clenching at his sides, he wanted to make them pay; he wanted to make then hurt for what they’d done. Momentarily, his eyes flashed a dangerous red, almost glowing and his aura flared dangerously.

“I’ll stop there, for now.”

The first duelist smirked, “I still have a monster left, and it’s stronger than your dragon. So say goodbye to your monster!”

“I don’t think so. I activate Odd-Eyes Absolute Dragon’s effect. I can remove one overlay unit to negate your attack. And, I can summon Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon from the graveyard! So be reborn once again, Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!”

For the third time that duel, Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon took to the field with a roar, eyes flashing dangerously.

“I-I end my turn,” he squeaked nervously.

The second duelist trembled nervously as he looked at his hand, then his barren field. He was defenseless, a sitting duck for any attack.

“I, I summon my Armoredog Bull Copter to the field and, end my turn.”

“I activate my Xiangke Magician’s Pendulum Effect, giving my Absolute Dragon a level equal to its rank, so my Rank 7 becomes a level 7 monster.”

“That means he has–”

“–Two level 7’s.”

“I overlay my level 7 Resolute Dragon, and my level 7 Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!”

 

_Dragon with dual colored eyes! Be revived from the pitch-black darkness!  
Reduce everything on this earth to ashes with your raging flames! _

_Come forth, Rank 7!_

_The blazing dragon that calls forth calamity!_

_Supreme King Violent Dragon, Odd-Eyes Raging Dragon!_

 

The air around them crackled as a rumble sounded, preceding the appearance of a large, red dragon. White-hot wings spread out from its shoulders and it roared, tilting its head skyward.

“Then I activate Raging Dragon’s effect! By removing all its overlay units I can negate any face up spell or trap cards, and destroy as many cards as I can!”

“But, there are no spell or trap cards!”

Yuya smirked, “When they’re in the Pendulum Zone, Pendulum cards are treated as spell cards! And for each destroyed card, Raging Dragon gains 200 attack points. So now it has 3800 attack points, more than enough to end this.”

Its wings flared out, shimmering with a hellish light in the darkness as a wave of energy rippled out across the field, destroying Yuya’s Pendulum monsters and each of the hounds on his opponent’s side of the field.

“And then, I equip Supreme Wing! Now Odd-Eyes Raging Dragon, take them out! And because of its effect, it can you attack twice!”

Raging Dragon howled, wings flaring as it dove towards the students like an avenging angel. It tore through the air, leaving behind a streak of flame in its path.

The first attack hit, sending the Academia duelist flying as his life points dropped to zero. The second attack connected and he stumbled backwards, life points dropping to 200

Yuya exhaled heavily, “Odd-Eye’s Raging Dragon’s attack returns to normal at the end of the Battle Phase, but it’s still strong enough to end you.”

Their life points were dropping quickly, Yuya sitting at 500, while one Academia duelist was already at 0, the other at 200.

By now they were shaking, fear etched in their eyes as they looked at Yuya.

“What is he?”

“He’s a monster, we need to get out of here!”

They scrambled backwards, trying to put distance between themselves and Yuya and Yuya’s monster.

Yuya growled, “Running away now too? Cowards!”

“I-I summon Armoredog Cannon Boxer in defense mode,” stammered the teen.

Yuya’s energy flared and crackled around him, sending them scrambling farther away as his eyes flashed a hellish red.

“You defense is worthless, Odd-Eyes Raging Dragon can attack twice in one turn! And because of Supreme Wing’s effect, you take damage equal to the attack points of your monster! You’re finished!”

 

Yuya groaned, rubbing his head with one hand as he tried to piece together what had happened.

One moment he was out front of what remained of his duel school, after that, everything sort of blurred when he heard the voices.

Lifting his head, he soon realized he had a bigger problem. Not only could he not remember anything after hearing the voices, but also he had no idea where he was.

He certainly wasn’t in Standard, or any of the dimensions for that matter, and it wasn’t the Barian World either.

It was like he was in a void; he was standing, even though he couldn’t feel anything under him and there was nothingness for as far as he could see in every direction.

“What happened?” he moaned, swaying on the spot.

“Easy there.” A pair of large hands caught him from behind as he stumbled and fell backwards. “Don’t push yourself.”

Yuya blinked, tilting his head back to get a look at the speaker. His mouth formed a small ‘o’ as he met a pair of gold eyes and a face framed by silver hair. The face, there was something familiar about it, but he couldn’t place it.

“Who are you? Where am I?” he asked.

“It’s, Yuya now is it, right?” asked the man.

He nodded, “Am I dead?”

“I certainly hope not, because that means I’m dead too, and we really can’t have that.” He let go of Yuya’s shoulders, standing him back up. “If that’s the case then we have bigger things to worry about.” Yuya gave him a puzzled look and he laughed, “I’m sorry, I suppose I should introduce myself, I know your name but you don’t know mine. Please, call me Zarc. I’m glad to finally get to meet you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EDIT: Thank you tumblr anon for pointing out that I hecked up OERD's effect. I rewrote that part.  
> It's still brutalaf though.


	52. Xyz Arc part 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, a few things.  
> One- I'm sure you've noticed the tag change, I added Zarc and Ray, as well as Zarc/Ray. I'll confirm it now, Zarc/Ray is, 100% a canon ship here. Everything else is ymmv or platonic, Zarc/Ray is not.
> 
> Two- The other day I redesigned Yuri's Barian form. I wasn't pleased with it and finally came up with a design for it that I liked.  
> This is the redesigned form. [Yuri Redesign](http://authoratmidnight.tumblr.com/post/158757555110/oh-look-i-redid-yuris-design-again-this-is)  
> Which means that I will, in time, go back and retcon a few descriptions here to reflect this.
> 
> Three- My Zarc and Ray will, probably be different from canon Zarc and Ray, as I had ideas going into this of what I wanted to do(and Zarc and Ray hadn't ye been revealed merely speculated). So, do keep that in mind.

Yuya tilted his head to one side, the name, it didn’t ring any bells, bells, but the way Zarc introduced himself, it was as if he expected Yuya to recognize it. And his face, he was sure he knew it.

“So, where am I?” asked Yuya. “I mean, if I‘m not dead then where am I?”

Zarc rubbed his chin thoughtfully, “Good question. I suppose I could say, we’re in your mind.”

“My, mind?”

He nodded, “Yes.”

“So then you’re just something made up then.”

“What? No, no I’m as real as you are Yuya,” he said, ruffling his hair with one hand. “I’m a part of you in a way.”

“I don’t understand if we’re in my head how can you be real? And how can I even be here?” He grabbed his head as panic washed over him. “The last thing I remember was home and, and…” he trailed off as shadows began to grow around his feet, gathering like a black mist that threatened to swallow him up.

“Yuya! You need to get a hold of yourself!” said Zarc, grabbing him by the shoulders. “Come on kid, keep your head on, this is not the time to give in. Focus Yuya focus please. I know you’re hurting but you can’t let it consume you now.”

Yuya trembled, shaking fearfully as he held his hands, tears stinging his eyes. “They destroyed my home, they got my mom. Why, why?”

“Yuya!”

Yuya looked up at Zarc as the latter shook him, still holding his shoulders. “Things will get better, but not if you give in. Please, you need to calm down. Panicking will only make this worse.”

Breath catching in his throat, Yuya nodded, tears rolling down his cheeks.

“It’ll be alright Yuya, I promise. Just listen to my voice, and breathe.”

With each deep breath, the shadows began to back off, slinking back as if chased away by something.

Zarc sighed, the darkness was receding, that was a good sign it meant that Yuya was calming down.

“Yuya, do you know why there are four dimensions? Why you have counterparts in each dimension?”

Yuya shook his head, “No. No idea.”

Zarc clicked his tongue, “Damn, not even a clue huh?” He ran a hand through his hair with a sigh, “Guess I have more to talk about than I thought,” he muttered. Yuya gave him a curious look and Zarc sighed. “It’s a long story kid, so sit down and listen, because I don’t know how much time I have.”

He sat down with a thump, pulling Yuya with him so they were sitting face to face. From the corner of his eye, he could see the area around them slowly growing darker and darker.

“There was a time, when there was only one dimension, one single world where all the summoning methods existed, where I existed.”

As Zarc began to talk he took Yuya’s hands in his own, and images and scenes began to form in front of him, like a movie playing out.

 

_With a sigh, Zarc dropped onto his back to stare at the sky, a few clouds drifting by on a lazy summer breeze._

_“There you are!” He closed his eyes with a sigh; there went his moment of peace and quiet. “What are you doing out here?” scolded a girl’s voice as a shadow fell over him, blocking out the sun._

_“Well I was trying to relax Ray,” he replied, cracking an eye open and looking up at her._

_A pair of fierce lavender eyes stared back at him and he flashed her a grin. “Did you forget about our duel today?” she asked, hands on her hips. “Because if you don’t show up I’ll just take the title of champion from you.”_

_“Oh really?” He sat up and the next moment had trapped her in a hug, arms wound around her middle as he pulled her into his lap. “And how are you going to get there if I have you?”_

_“Zarc! We don’t have time for this.”_

_“Sure we do,” he said, leaning his forehead on hers._

_“The opening ceremony is in 15 minutes! And it’ll take 10 minutes to get there from here.”_

_He froze, eyes snapping open. “What?”_

_“You heard me, 15 minutes. And we’re supposed to be there early. I’ve been looking everywhere for you.” She grabbed his hands, pulling them off her waist as she climbed out of his lap, before pulling him to his feet. “So you can miss out if you want, but I’m not. You know how my dad is.”_

_“Mr. Stickler for the rules.”_

_She nodded, “Now come on, if we hurry we’ll make it. And I’m going to win this time.”_

_Zarc grinned, “You just try.”_

_“Ray?”_

_“Hmm?”_

_“Can you promise me something?”_

_Ray lifted her head from its perch on his shoulder and frowned. “Zarc, is something wrong?” His voice sounded, strained, almost worried, which was unusual for the normally cheery duelist._

_“Can you promise me something?” he asked again._

_“Of course, but what’s going on?”_

_“If I ever lose myself, if something happens to me, promise me you’ll stop me. By any means necessary.”_

_“Zarc you’re scaring me, what’s going on? Is there something I should know?” she asked, voice rising in pitch with her fear. “Has something happened?”_

_“No, not yet but I’m, worried,” he said, looking up at the starry sky. “I can feel it Ray, in the air, something’s coming, something big.” He squeezed her hand. “Please, you have to promise me. You know what my power can do, what I can do. And if I can’t control that…Please Ray,” he cupped her face with his other hand. “Promise me you’ll stop me. Even if you have to kill me.”_

_She trembled, placing her free hand on his as she leaned into his touch. “I promise. But it’ll never come to that Zarc. I promise it won’t.”_

_Ray trembled as she looked up at the great dragon that hovered in the sky, wings spreading out across the horizon as it howled with rage and fury._

_“Oh Zarc…”_

_The golden-eyed beast thrashed and roared, leveling the ground around it before turning its attention to Ray._

_“Ray!”_

_Zarc lowered his head so he was eye level with Ray, claws gripping the ruins around him._

_“It wasn’t supposed to come to this Zarc,” she said, shaking her head as tears burned in her eyes. “Please, you need to stop, this isn’t you.”_

_He frowned, “Don’t you understand Ray, I am Destruction, this is me. I’ve just been holding it back. I was too scared of my power to realize what I could really do.”_

_“Don’t make me do this Zarc.”_

_“You could join me.” The great dragon extended a claw towards her. “The Supreme Dragon King, and the Queen of Nature; Destruction and Creation, ruling together, can you imagine?”_

_She shook her head, “No Zarc, and I don’t want to. I didn’t want this. Can’t you see you’re hurting people? You’re hurting your friends. Can’t you hear them? Can’t you hear your dragons crying out? They’re screaming Zarc, screaming in pain.”_

_He growled, “I thought you would understand, I trusted you. How could you betray me like this?”_

_“I’m sorry Zarc, but I have to stop you. I can’t let you continue to do this.” A look of determination crossed her face as she straightened up to face him, reaching for something in her pocket. “After all, I promised you. I don’t know what’ll happen to us, but maybe, maybe we can have a second chance at happiness. But right now, I have to stop you. Even if it kills us both.”_

_A tear rolled down her cheek as she faced him, holding something in her hands._

_“No, what are you doing? You traitor! You traitor!”_

_A dazzling glow shone from her hands, spreading out over the area, and consuming everything and everyone in its light._

 

As Zarc let go of Yuya’s hands the last of the scenes vanished and Yuya could only gape.

“I don’t understand, how did you, why?” he asked, shaking his head. It didn’t make any sense; Zarc seemed like such a good person so to become like that was confusing.

“Something arrived in that dimension, a darkness that began to destroy everything,” said Zarc. “I tried to stop it but I wasn’t strong enough. Neither of us was.”

“You mean Ray?”

He nodded, “Yes. She split me in four, and in turn split the world and herself, but she didn’t destroy the darkness.” He reached out, touching his fingertips to Yuya’s chest, “You’ve felt it haven’t you?”

“Darkness…” He looked up, “Is that what made Yuto, act the way he did?” he asked. “When he saw Obelisk Force he got so angry, he wasn’t himself. And that energy,” Yuya shuddered at the memory. “It was terrifying.”

“Most likely,” said Zarc with a nod. “Please, you have to be careful, you can’t let it consume you. It wants to become whole again. The fact that you’re here is, bad.”

“Why?”

“It means that it’s already trying to consume you, and winning,” said Zarc. “It means it pushed you here to try and consume you.” He gestured with his head to the creeping shadows around them. “I’m sorry, I wish we had more time, but you need to go back, before it’s too late.” Taking Yuya’s hands again he pulled him to his feet. “There’s so much I wish I could tell you, but we don’t have the time, you need to go back.”

“But I don’t know what to do!”

“Fight. You have to fight it and win. I’m sure we’ll meet again Yuya, but until then, you need to go back.”

As Zarc let go of him, Yuya felt a tugging sensation, dragging him away from Zarc and into the darkness.

“No, I can’t leave yet, I can’t! I still have questions. Zarc please! I don’t know what to do!”

Zarc shook his head, “I’m sorry, but I’m not strong enough to leave here, not yet. Good luck, my beloved Odd-Eyes.”

“Zarc what are you–?” Yuya was cut off as he was ripped away, Zarc vanishing before his eyes.

 

Yuya yelped in pain, his senses overloaded as they came rushing back. Noise, there was so much of it screaming in his ears, and everything was so bright and painful to his eyes that he had to clench them shut to blot it out. It was so intense that it hurt.

“Yuya!”

His eyes snapped open at a familiar voice and he found himself staring dead ahead at Yuzu, who looked like she was in the throngs of a duel.

Then he heard something else, something that made his blood run cold. His own voice was coming from behind him!

Turning his head he saw himself, standing there, face twisted in a mask of rage. He’d never seen such a horrifying look before, let alone on his own face. He shook his head; this wasn’t possible, how could he be looking at himself?

His question was answered a moment later when ‘Yuya’ pointed at him and spoke. “Now Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, attack her directly!”

Yuya froze as he turned back to Yuzu. He couldn’t attack her; she was his friend, doing that could hurt her.

“I said attack!” the voice roared from behind him.

Yuya shook his head, taking a step back, no, no he couldn’t attack her; he wouldn’t! Turning around, he charged at himself, the demon wearing his face suddenly looking very scared.

As his dragon form met his human form, everything fell sideways. One moment he was charging, the next he was falling backwards, the world around him dimming and blurring, and Yuzu’s voice calling his name was the last thing he heard.


	53. Xyz Arc part 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not an April Fools joke(b/c I actually forgot that it would coincide with an update lmao so I didn't plan anything for it), it's a update!
> 
> EDIT: I edited in a description about her Barian form now that I, you know, designed one.

_When Selena opened her eyes, she expected to be cold, to be damp. She expected to be coughing and sputtering. Instead she felt warm and dry, and breathing was surprisingly easy. Sitting up, her fingers sank into the soft red sand that blanketed the area around her. To one side, waves lapped at the shore, inches from her body. To the other stretched a field of crystalline hills._

_She brought a hand to her face and realized something was wrong. Her face was smooth, nearly featureless, no nose and no mouth. The only feature was something attached to one side of her face, like a mask. She looked down at herself, her skin had taken on a pale blue colour and her clothes had been replaced by dark leggings, arm coverings and a short skirt while blue gems adorned her skin. What on earth was she?_

_Selena shuddered, this was wrong. Lowering her hand she looked around, taking in the new place, the glittering red sands and wine red sea, the pale gold clouds and warm sky._

_Wherever she was, it definitely wasn’t Duel Academy; in fact she wasn’t even sure she was on earth._

_No place she knew of had water that colour, or sand as red as this. And the sky, there was nothing natural about it, or the glowing light that hung in it._

_And whatever she was, she wasn’t human, not any more._

_Slowly she pulled herself to her feet, bare feet sinking into the sand and did the only thing she could do; she started walking._

 

“So, what did you want from me Yuri?” she asked, arms folded across her chest as she turned to face him. “You said we needed to talk. What about?”

“You don’t waste time do you?”

“No.”

He sighed, “Since we’re being truthful with each other, I feel there is something you should know, about how you died.”

That got her attention in an instant, head snapping up to look at him. “Explain.”

“I may be partly responsible for your death.”

 

_“Now tell me, why was I put down like a lame animal? What post did I abandon to earn such a fate?” Yuri scowled as he glared down at the trapped duelist, duel disk still raised._

_“Don’t act like you don’t know.”_

_He rolled his eyes, “Humor me then, pretend I don’t know.”_

_“You abandoned your post, you let Miss. Selena escape and she drowned.”_

_“Selena?” his frown deepened as thoughts began to whirl in his mind. “You’re lying. I was never told to be anywhere.” As he brought his hand to the screen the duelist backed away._

_“You said you would be merciful.”_

_“I said I might be. I decided not to be,” he said, pressing a button as a flash of violet filled the air. “To bad for you.”_

 

“Why didn’t you say anything before?” she asked, narrowing her eyes at him.

“I couldn’t be certain he was telling the truth.”

“So that’s why you asked about my death.”

Yuri nodded, “I needed to know, to confirm if I was being told the truth or not. To be honest, I was hoping he’d been lying.” He folded his arms over his chest. “I never intended to hide anything from you.”

Selena shifted about on her feet, studying his face to try and get a read on him.

“I don’t blame you, even knowing this. You didn’t make me escape, you didn’t put me in that boat or start the storm. I’m the only one at fault here,” she said. “I got myself killed, alright?”

“Fair enough, less on my mind. But, we still have one more thing to solve. Our memories,” he said, tapping his head with a finger. “Someone messed with them, deliberately made us forget.”

“What are you getting at?”

“Someone made us forget for a reason, and I want to know what that reason is. Maybe it‘ll help us get answers.” He shrugged, “Even if it doesn’t, I don’t like the idea of someone messing with my head like that. And I want to know what I was made to forget.”

“But how are we going to do that?” asked Selena.

“That, I’m not sure.”

 

After his initial comment about the place looking like a dump, Sawatari decided it would be for the best if he kept his mouth shut, lest he say something else to offend Shun.

It felt like they had been walking for forever, and with everything a trashed ruin; the scenery didn’t change very much.

Every now and then, Shun would stop and look around, as if searching for something.

“Do you know what we’re looking for?” Sawatari whispered to Gongenzaka.

Gongenzaka shook his head, “No idea. Kurosaki, what are we searching for? If you tell us we can help.”

Shun stopped, gravel crunching underfoot. “The Resistance. I’ll know them when I see them,” he said.

“I haven’t seen anyone but us since we landed here,” said Sawatari, folding his arms over his chest.

“You’re right, and I’m worried. Let’s keep moving, we don’t know who might be around.” He turned away and started walking again.

Day turned to night and they found themselves standing outside of what seemed to be a school, or at least what looked like it had been a school, the name had burned off and was unreadable.

Shun’s hands balled into fists at his side, shaking as he stood in the missing doorway.

“Those bastards. They got this place too.”

“What is this place?” asked Sawatari as he followed him inside.

“Heartland Duel School, Spade Branch. This was my school,” he replied. “And a base for part of the Resistance. If it’s like this…”

He trailed off before bolting, taking off down the hall in a sprint.

“AH! Kurosaki wait for us!” Sawatari pushed past Gongenzaka, chasing after Shun. “Don’t just run off like that!”

Shun skidded around a corner, ignoring the cries of his companions behind him.

“Kurosaki!” Sawatari reached out, making a grab for his jacket. This was the opposite of being quiet and keeping his eyes peeled.

Shun came to an abrupt stop and Sawatari flailed, trying to stop himself before he crashed into Shun.

“Kurosaki what–?”

“We’re too late.”

“Kurosaki?”

Shun slammed his fist into the doorframe, causing Sawatari to jump back in surprise, before looking past him into the room. The room was in disarray, half the back wall missing, exposing it to the outside, and everything in the room was a charred, burned out mess. Glass and concrete littered the floor, the only thing left of the outward facing wall.

The only colour came from the cards that littered the floor, tossed about haphazardly, the remains of burned and melted duel disks lying not to far away from them.

Walking into the room, Shun picked up a strip of red fabric from among the rubble, clenching it tightly.

“They got them, they got all of them.”

Sawatari looked up at Gongenzaka as the large duelist finally joined him. “I think we found the Resistance,” he said. “Or, what’s left of them.”

“We should stop for the night,” said Shun as he stood up. “It’s too dark to continue. And too dangerous.”

“So we’re sleeping in here?” asked Sawatari. “In this school? Where?”

“Where ever you can find.”

 

Sleep did not come easy for anyone, save perhaps Gongenzaka, who’d managed to fall asleep in a sitting position.

It was clear that the place was lived in, as evidenced by the makeshift beds and blankets they found throughout several rooms, which they gathered to make their own temporary beds. They seemed to be made from gym mats and blankets, and in Sawatari’s opinion, were not the least bit comfortable.

Sawatari couldn’t sleep, or find a way to get comfortable, tossing and turning about on his hastily made bed of blankets, and by the sound of the feet in the hall, neither it seemed could Shun.

Getting up, he stuck his head out the door, and watched him head down the hall, before deciding to follow him to see where he was going. He really hoped Shun wasn’t about to just leave them behind in that place.

When Sawatari finally caught up to him, Shun was sitting on the roof, looking at the red fabric in his hand.

“Kurosaki?”

Shun’s head shot up at the sound of Sawatari’s voice and he jumped back slightly.

Sawatari held his hands up, “Ah, I didn’t mean to startle you!”

“You didn’t, what is it you want?”

Sawatari rubbed the back of his head, fidgeting about on the spot. “Oh well, I, I couldn’t sleep. Can I join you?”

“Suit yourself I don’t care,” he said, going back to looking at the cloth.

Sawatari hesitated before going to sit down beside him.

“I, uh, I’m sorry,” he said after a moment. “About what I said earlier, when I called this place a dump. I just, I wasn’t thinking.”

“Heartland used to be beautiful,” said Shun, lifting his head as he looked out over the ruined landscape. “All these buildings would be lit up at night.”

“Like that action field you dueled on against that Sora kid?”

Shun nodded, “It doesn’t do it justice.” He tightened his grip on the fabric, hand shaking.

“So ah, what’s with that?” asked Sawatari, pointing to the cloth in his hand.

“Everyone in the Resistance had one,” said Shun, indicating to the red scarf around his neck. “Like a badge, so we knew who our allies were.”

“So, that means that…”

“Belonged to someone in the Resistance, yes. This school was turned into a Resistance base when the invasion started, but it looks as if Academia found it. They wiped everyone out.” His voice cracked slightly as he spoke, hand shaking.

Sawatari fell silent, at loss for what to say. He’d never experienced loss before, certainly not like this, so what was he supposed to say? He had no idea how to comfort anyone, he didn’t exactly have experience in that department, and Shun didn’t seem like the type to want comforting.

“So, so what now?” he asked. “I mean, if there’s no one here.”

“There are other bases, other members of the Resistance, we’ll look for them. There’s bound to be someone left, somewhere.”

Sawatari nodded, “So, does that make Gongenzaka and I members of your Resistance now? I mean we are fighting against Academia too.”

“I suppose you are,” said Shun. After a moment he held out the scarf to Sawatari, “You’re going to need this then, otherwise you might be mistaken for a duelist from Academia. We can’t have that.”

Sawatari looked at the piece of dirty red fabric that was being held out to him, hesitant about taking it. It had belonged to someone else after all. Tentatively he took it from Shun, looking it over.

There was a time when he wouldn’t have even thought about touching something so obviously dirty, but this wasn’t the time for that. He’d spent the whole day walking and climbing through the filthy ruins of Heartland, his clothes stained with dirt and ash from having to crawl though places and tripping and falling more than once. There was a smudge on his face from having wiped a dirty hand there at one point. One more dirty thing wouldn’t matter.

But now, to turn down something like this would be beyond rude.

Holding his arm out, he wrapped the red fabric around his upper arm and tied it off before turning to Shun with a grin.

“Whaddaya think?” he asked. Shun turned to look at him and gave a strangled noise of shock and Sawatari frowned. “Something wrong?”

Shun shook his head, “You reminded me of a friend for a moment. He tied his scarf like that, to his arm.”

“Oh, should I change?”

“It’s fine.”

“Guess we’ll have to get one for Gongenzaka too, that way we’ll all match.”

“We should also get some sleep,” said Shun. “We’ll need our strength for tomorrow if we’re going to search for the others.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I had always intended to come back to the scene in the first arc where Yuri demanded answers from the captured member of Obelisk Force and reveal what happened, and have him reveal the truth to Selena after learning about hos she bit it. I was planning on having it happen sometime in the Synchro arc after he returned to the Barian World. 
> 
> Except I forgot. Until it was too late.  
> So, here it is. A bit late, but happening how.
> 
> And yes, you CAN tie something to you upper arm on your own(i.e with one hand). I tested it out. What Shingo did is 100% doable.


	54. Xyz Arc part 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a lil short, but here it is. :p

Yuya groaned as he opened his eyes, his head was swimming and everything felt and sounded muffled and fuzzy.

“Yuya! Yuya!”

Yuzu’s voice called his name, though she sounded distant and far away.

“Be careful, it could be a trick,” a second voice joined Yuzu’s, sounded just as distant, and it took Yuya a moment remember who owned the voice.

“I know Yuya, this isn’t a trick. I know what I saw.”

He clenched his eyes shut, blinking his eyes a few times. “Yu…zu?” he moaned weakly, eyes fluttering.

“Yuya!” Her voice sounded again, this time clearer and louder and her face came into view above his as he opened his eyes.

“I hurt.”

A pair of arms hooked under him, pulling him up into a sitting position as Yuzu held him.

He looked around weakly, trying to get his bearings and figure out where he was, aside from on the ground.

“What happened?” he asked, looking back at Yuzu. It was too dark to see much of anything that wasn’t directly in his face.

She frowned, “You don’t remember?”

He scrunched his face up, “I remember going out for a walk; I wanted to clear my head, to see the school. Yuzu it’s awful, it’s been destroyed.” His voice hitched in his throat and he blinked back tears. “The school’s in ruins.”

“Do you remember anything else?” she asked.

“I remember hearing voices, they were talking about hunting people it was horrible.” Yuya frowned, “I went towards the voices I think. Everything’s sort of fuzzy, the next thing I remember I was dueling you. Why was I dueling you?”

Yuzu trembled, her frown deepening. “Yuya, you left two days ago.”

“Two days?”

“Yeah, you’ve been on a rampage for nearly two days,” said Masumi, somewhere just out of his line of sight. “We only managed to find you and get you under control a few hours ago. You were going after everyone with a duel disk.”

“What happened Yuya?” asked Yuzu, stroking his hair with one hand. “You were fighting me, and then, you weren’t, you just, snapped back and collapsed.”

“I-I don’t know,” he said. “It’s all sort of a blur.” He twisted around, trying to find Masumi in the darkness. “What did you mean by, on a rampage?”

“Just that,” she said. “When you didn’t come back we went out looking for you, to make sure you hadn’t gotten yourself carded or something. Instead we heard the sounds of a duel, and you trashing everything.” Masumi sighed, “We couldn’t even get close, not that I’d want to when you were like that.”

“You were frightening Yuya, you weren’t yourself.”

His breath caught in his throat, “I was like that…for two days?”

Yuzu nodded, “Just about. We were hoping you’d calm down on your own, but you didn’t. So I challenged you, I thought maybe seeing me, dueling me would snap you out of it.”

“Looks like it did.”

“I don’t know what did,” she said, biting the edge of her lip. “You didn’t even act like you knew me when you started dueling me. I almost thought it wasn’t going to work. Then one moment you were dueling me, and the next, your own monster was attacking you.”

“Come on, let’s get him back, before he goes crazy again,” said Masumi.

Numbly, Yuya held Yuzu’s hand as she pulled him to his feet. A monster, that’s what he was, a total monster. He’d been hurting people without care, and he’d almost hurt Yuzu. What would he have done if he had hurt her? He shuddered at the thought; he didn’t even want to think about that, it was too horrible.

He clenched his eyes shut and shook his head, what was happening to him? Why was it happening at all?

He followed her silently, too lost in his own thoughts to pay attention to anything around him.

“Yuya?”

He stopped abruptly, letting go of her hand. “I need to go.”

“What do you mean? Go where?”

“The Barian world, it’s too dangerous for me to stay here,” he said, wrapping his arms around himself. “I might hurt someone else. There are fewer people for me to hurt there.”

“Are you sure?” she asked, touching his arm lightly.

“I am, I can’t stay here. I don’t want to hurt anyone, and I might if I stay here.”

“Stop dragging your feet you two, we can’t waste any more time!” called Masumi.

“We’ll catch up in a moment!” replied Yuzu before turning back to Yuya.

“I’ll be ok, I promise,” he said, seeing the worried look on her face. “But I can’t stay here, not if I’m going to, do that.”

“Just be careful Yuya.”

He gave her a lopsided smile; “I think between the five of them, someone there should be able to stop me if something like that happens again. I’m sure Yuri would like the chance to beat me up.”

“What am I going to tell the others?” she asked.

“The truth?” He shrugged, “You’re smart, I’m sure you’ll think of something.”

He stepped away from her as he opened up a portal behind him and quickly vanished through it.

Yuzu sighed, wringing her hands together before heading to join Masumi at the water’s edge.

“Where’s Yuya?” she asked when Yuzu returned alone.

“He had to leave. He went to another dimension, to find our allies and tell them about this,” she said. “He didn’t think it was safe if he stayed here.”

Masumi sighed, “As long as you know where he is. Now, we should get back, I don’t want the others to worry.”

 

As Yuya stepped through the portal and into the Barian world he clutched his head, falling to his knees, tears burning in his eyes.

“What’s happening to me? What’s going on?” He trembled, “I’m turning into a monster.”

 

The energy in the Barian world rippled and crackled and Yuri looked around as a chill rolled down his spine, distracting him from his thoughts. It made his skin prickle as if dozens of tiny pins were poking at him and was highly unpleasant.

“You felt that too right?” he asked, looking over at Selena, who was resting her forearms on the rocks around them. They’d lapsed into silence while trying to brainstorm ideas for how to regain their memories, both getting lost in their own thoughts.

She nodded, “What do you think it was?”

“I’m not sure, but I doubt anything good.”

Selena went to speak, but stopped when something caught her eye. “Yuri.”

“Hmm?”

“Your deck is glowing.”

He looked down at his arm and sure enough, a glow was coming from his deck. “How strange,” he mused. A card slid out and into his fingers and his face creased in confusion when he turned it over. “Starve Venom?”

The fusion monster was glowing, emanating a soft light, something he’d never seen it do before.

Then the light flared brightly, blinding Yuri as everything went white.

 

_“I wouldn’t worry about what they think, they don’t know you like I do. We’ll show’em in the next match Starve Venom, we’ll show’em that it’s not all about looks.” A pair of gold eyes sparkled happily as a hand reached out towards him._

 

Yuri stumbled, rocked by the unfamiliar vision, and barely had time to dwell on it, or who the silver haired, golden-eyed stranger in it was, as everything around him melted away in a fog and the vision changed.


	55. Xyz Arc part 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's memory time~
> 
> I'm sure you remember the vague snippets he got way back during the Standard Arc. And the hinting I did during the Synchro arc.   
> :D

_Yuri sighed as he fell back in the grass, sprawling out as he stared up at the sky. He wondered why it was called a ‘garden party’ when they weren’t actually celebrating anything about the garden. It seemed silly to him._

_The adults were all gathered on the back patio and inside the house, eating and chatting about who knew what, and while he’d have liked to have simply gone back to his room to play with his Duel Monster cards, his mother had forbade it._

_‘_ Socialize _’ she’d said. ‘_ Play with the other kids _’ she’d told him._

_He snorted, the few children that were there were older than him. No teen wanted to hang around a kid that was barely seven._

_So he’d taken it on himself to seek out a quiet place in the garden to nap, it wasn’t like anyone was going to look for him for a while._

_He reached up, brushing his fingers over the yellow blossoms of the begonias above him. At least flowers didn’t talk to him or tell him to go away. Flowers were nice; he liked them more than people._

_He was content to just lie there, until he heard a rustling among the plants and sat bolt upright. Someone else was there, in his secret place, he had to get rid of them or else they might try to chase him off._

_“Who’s there?” he asked, pulling himself to his feet and brushing grass off his pants. “You’re trespassing in the land of the-” he paused as he looked around quickly, “-the Flower Prince! Now go away.”_

_A girl snorted, “Flower Prince? Yeah right. Then I’m a Moon Princess.” A young girl, no older than he was stepped through the flowers and stood in front of him, arms folded over her chest. Her indigo hair was pulled back with a deep gold bow and she was dressed in a puffy blue dress._

_“Well, I don’t want you here,” said Yuri stiffly, folding his arms over his chest._

_“Well, ‘flower prince’, I was sent by the, flower queen, and the moon queen,” she said._

_Yuri scrunched his face up, “Flower Queen? Moon Queen? What are you, oh,” his face fell and he sat back down with a thump. “My mom.”_

_The girl nodded, “And mine. They said to go play with you.” She held her hand out to him, “I’m Selena.”_

_He studied her hand for a moment before reaching up and taking it, “Yuri. And I guess I can let you stay in my garden for a bit. Just don’t hurt the flowers.”_

_Selena rolled her eyes, “I’m not going too. Yeesh.”_

_Standing back up he looked at her thoughtfully, rubbing his chin. “Well Moon Princess, I think I know something you’ll like,” he said, taking her hand. “Come on!”_

_Without waiting for her answer he took off, dragging her through the garden by the hand._

_Selena yelped, barely keeping on her feet as she stumbled after him. “Where are we going?”_

_Yuri grinned widely and continued to drag her after him before coming to a stop at a smaller bed of flowers. The white blooms were just barely open, giving the impression of many little stars._

_“They’re Moonflowers!” he said, letting go of her hand. “They only bloom at night.” He grinned, “Moonflowers for a moon princess.”_

 

Yuri reeled as the vision began to melt away into the silver mist around him. That wasn’t right, he remembered that garden party, but Selena had never been there, he definitely would have remembered that. No, he’d spent it alone, playing make believe among the flowers on his own for the night. The lonely Flower Prince he remembered.

No, that couldn’t be right, what he’d seen, it felt familiar, it felt right. But that couldn’t be, could it?

 

_“Yuri!” whined Selena, “Come on, we’re going to be late.”_

_Yuri snorted and rolled his eyes, “We have plenty of time Selena, just because you like getting to everything so early.”_

_She grabbed his arm and tugged on it, pulling him along the docks, “I don’t want to be late, we’re finally going to Duel Academy, and I don’t want to miss the boat.”_

_As if on cue, a loud, deep horn sounded from down at the water’s edge and Selena jerked hard on his arm._

_“Come on!”_

_With a defeated sigh he followed after her, lest she pull his arm from its socket. They weren’t going to be late, the boat had only just arrived in harbour, but Selena was insistent and changing her mind on anything was difficult._

 

_“I can’t believe it, we’re going to Duel Academy!” Selena grinned excitedly as she leaned on the railing of the boat, eagerly awaiting the sight of shore and hoping to catch their first glimpse of the school. “Aren’t you excited?”_

_Yuri moaned, hanging over the railing feebly, “I might be if the boat would stop rocking like this.”_

 

Yuri clutched his head, the visions, the memories, they couldn’t be right. He remembered the boat ride, barely, but he did. He’d spent it seasick, and alone, clutching the railing for support as he fought not to throw up. No one had wanted to talk to him, no one ever had. His entire childhood had been lonely, so devoid of friends, so why, why was Selena there? And why did it feel, right? What was going on?

 

_Yuri shivered against the cold and squirmed, trying in vain to free himself from the restraints that held him to the table._

_“What kind of a doctor’s check up is this?” he asked, hoping someone would hear him and help. The moment he’d laid down on the table restraints had fastened themselves to his arms and legs to hold him in place._

_“You really should try to relax,” said a voice to his left._

_He shifted his gaze as far to the left as he could, only just able to make out movement._

_“You’re no doctor, you’re just a quack!” came Selena’s voice from even farther to his left and out of his range of sight. “Now let us go.”_

_“Oh don’t worry, you’ll be free in no time,” said the man. “But I assure you I’m no quack. Now,” metal clicked against metal and Yuri heard the sound of something opening, like a jar. “Why don’t we get started?”_

_A pair of tongs came into Yuri’s view as the man stood over him, and in their grip was a squirming, wiggling bug. It wasn’t very large, small enough to fit into the palm of his hand, with long antenna like tendrils wiggling in the air._

_Yuri’s eyes widened and a chill rolled down his spine. “What, what is that?” he asked, watching in horror as it wiggled about, making terrible little squeaking noises._

_“Oh nothing much, just something I’ve been developing. And you’re going to be my first test subject. Oh if this works the Professor will be so pleased.”_

_Yuri whimpered softly, clenching his eyes shut in fear so he wouldn’t have to see him or the bug._

_“Oh don’t worry, this won’t hurt a bit. Or at least, you won’t remember it if it does.”_

_He felt the cool metal tongs touch his ear and the bug wiggled free, slithering into the narrow crevice of his ear. Yuri screamed._

 

“Yuri, Yuri!” Hands shook him sharply, the silvery mist clearing from his vision. “Yuri snap out of it already!”

Selena’s voice pierced through the haze of his mind and he looked up at her from where he knelt on the ground, one hand still on Starve Venom. Her eyes were wide with worry and she had a tight grip on his shoulders, hands shaking.

Then he laughed, putting his other hand to his head, tears beginning to blur his vision.

“Those bastards, I can’t believe it, I can’t believe they actually did that to us.”

“Yuri?”

“And on the Professor’s orders too. Ha, ha, oh god how could they do that to us?”

“Yuri!” A hand connected with the side of his cheek and he looked back up at Selena, who had gone from looking concerned to looking upset with him. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“Our memories,” he said. “They took them Selena, they forced us to forget one another by putting those, those things in our heads. Oh god, I remember, I remember it all!”

Clutching his head between his hands, Starve Venom still trapped between his fingers as its glow faded, Yuri screamed.

Selena had never heard such a painful sound in her life until the moment Yuri screamed. It was a noise of pure anguish, and the look in his eyes, it was pure pain and agony. Just what had he remembered?


	56. Xyz Arc part 8

It took the combined efforts of Selena and Ruri to calm him down after the screaming started.

Selena couldn’t understand it, what had happened? He’d removed Starve Venom from his deck when she brought the glow to his attention, and then simply froze. He gripped the card tightly in one hand, eyes wide as he stared at it, body trapped in the same glow. After over coming her initial shock she reacted, grabbing him and trying to shake him free.

Ruri appeared shortly after, having been sent by Yuto. It seemed that Yuya had just returned and promptly collapsed, and at nearly the same time that he collapsed they’d felt a strange burst of energy.

And then Yuri snapped out of it, the glow vanishing from around him as he sank to his knees, a tremble rippling through his body.

“Yuri, Yuri can you hear me?’ she asked, one hand still on his shoulder. “Yuri?”

“I hear you,” he said quietly. He was sitting on the floor between them, Selena seated in front of him and Ruri to his left.

“Good, can you tell me what happened?” she asked. “You said they forced us to forget. Who, who’s they? What did they force us to forget?”

“So you don’t remember yet do you?” he asked.

“Remember what?” she asked. “You’re not making any sense.”

Yuri sighed and hung his head, “Our memories. Selena, did you ever attend a garden party when you were little?”

“I went to multiple, mostly because of my parents, so you’ll have to be more specific,” she said.

“You would have been, about seven at the time. The house had an expansive garden and a pond in the back. You may have spent it alone in the garden.” Yuri shrugged, “I don’t know what you remember or how you remember it, honestly all garden parties were boring to me.”

“I remember some,” she said with a shrug. “But one of them stand out.”

Yuri shook his head, “Then you don’t remember. Selena, Academia took our memories, they made us forget one another. We first met at a garden party, as kids. We were friends, but they altered our memories.” His hands curled into fists at his side, shaking with barely contained anger.

“But why?” asked Ruri. “What reason would they have for making you forget each other?”

“Because, Selena you said the Professor kept you under close watch am I right?”

She nodded, “Yes, he never let me go anywhere. I could barely wander the school, never mind leave it. And if I did wander the grounds I needed an escort.”

Yuri nodded, “And there’s you answer. With no one to remember her no one would look for her. If she doesn’t have friends, she wouldn’t try to leave.” His eyes flashed with playfulness as he looked over at Selena, “I guess he didn’t count on your stubbornness and need to prove yourself though.”

“No, apparently not,” she said. “But, how did they make us forget?”

“Parasites. That thing I drew before, that bug, it was a parasite they used it to suppress our memories.” Yuri shuddered, wings twitching. “I remember it now, I remember it crawling into my ear. I remember how much it hurt.”

Selena grimaced in disgust, scrunching her face up and hands flying to her ears. “In our ears? That’s disgusting. And terrible.”

Yuri simply nodded, “I hope you don’t get those memories back, they’re not fun. It hurts just thinking about it. And now with the parasites dead, there’s nothing to keep those memories at bay.”

“That doesn’t explain why your deck was glowing.”

It didn’t, and Yuri was about to speak when approaching footsteps cut him off and someone spoke up.

“We have bigger problems,” said Yuto, causing them to look in his direction.

“Yuto! How’s Yuya, is he going to be alright?” asked Ruri as she stood up.

“He’s calmed down at any rate, I left him with Rin.”

“What did you mean by bigger problems?” asked Yuri as he and Selena stood up.

Yuto’s gaze flicked over to the pair and he sighed, “Fusion attacked Standard. It’s the invasion of Heartland all over again.”

“What?” Yuri hissed, narrowing his eyes. “Why would they? That doesn’t make sense.”

“Yuya didn’t say he was too upset to say much more.”

“What about Yuzu?” asked Selena.

“Not here, she didn’t come with him.” He made a gesture with his shoulder, indicating for them to follow him. “If Academia’s willing to attack Standard, this changes everything.”

 

Yuya was still sitting on the floor with Rin when Yuto returned with the others. He wasn’t screaming any more, Yuto had managed to calm him down past that, but he was shaking and wide-eyed in fear, tears burning in the corner of his eyes.

“They destroyed it, they destroyed my home, they took my family.” Yuya put his face in one hand, tears trickling through his fingers. “This isn’t right, this isn’t ok.”

“He’s been like this since you left,” said Rin. “I can’t get him to say much else I’m afraid.”

“Two women,” said Yuya, raising his head. “That’s who the kids said attacked the school, attacked my mom and Shuzo, ‘two scary women’.” He looked towards Yuri, “Do you know any duelists like that?”

“I do know of a tag duel pair like that, and I hope I‘m wrong,” he said. “Or Standard and everyone in it is in very grave danger.”

 

“Gloria and Grace Tyler.”

Masumi sighed as she sat down, kicking her shoes off as she put her feet in her lap to try and soothe the ache in them.

With the Yuya situation mostly dealt with, Yuzu had decided to finally ask Masumi about what had happened, who had attacked Standard and why. Provided of course she even knew.

“They’re a tag duel pair and as ruthless as they come. They arrived not long after you-after the Lancers-left.” Masumi frowned, pausing as she rubbed her foot. “It was awful.”

“What did they want?” asked Yuzu.

“The Lancers, at least at first. But when they couldn’t get them they decided to just eliminate everyone, keep us from making more.” She sighed and bowed her head, “I guess, I should start at the beginning.”

 

_Masumi’s pen tapped the table in boredom as she listened to Professor Marco drone on about some Fusion theory or another. Even though this was her favourite class, with her favourite teacher, she wasn’t sure how she could focus on it after what had just happened during the hastily aborted tournament. Other dimensions, a war, the Lancers, it was all so much to take in._

_The sound of a phone ringing jolted her out of her thoughts and cut the teacher off mid sentence._

_“Hold that thought will you?” he asked, before going to answer the classroom phone._

_Now Masumi was curious, they didn’t often get calls, especially not in the middle of class. Idly she wondered what it was about._

_After a moment he hung up and turned back to the class._

_“There’s an altercation that requires my attention in the main hall. So, read the rest of the chapter until I get back and copy down what I have on the board.”_

_Masumi craned her neck, watching as he pulled his duel disk out before leaving the room. What kind of altercation required him to bring his duel disk, let alone leave class in the middle of it?_

_Perhaps they’d get a clue when he came back, it was sure to be worth telling them about._

_Class drew to an end 15 minutes later and still he hadn’t returned and Masumi had a sinking feeling in her gut. At the sound of the bell she grabbed her bag and bolted from the room._

_She caught Hokuto in the hall, snagging him by the arm as she dragged him off to find Yaiba, ignoring his protests about being dragged away from his next class._

_It wasn’t normal for a teacher not to return to class; just what kind of altercation had he gotten involved in?_

_“What’s going on Masumi?” asked Yaiba, “It’s not like you to cut class.”_

_Masumi raised a finger to her lips, pressing her back up against the wall as they reached the bottom of the stairs. She could hear someone talking and it wasn’t the professor._

_“What do you mean they’re gone‽” screeched a woman’s voice. “We didn’t come here just for the Lancers to be gone.”_

_“I mean you missed them. They left the other day. They’re not even in this dimension.”_

_Masumi tensed at the sound of Marco’s voice, it sounded strained, almost hurt. She made a move and Yaiba grabbed her arm to pull her back. Whoever was out there wasn’t good news._

_“Gloria,” whined a second voice. “How can we complete our mission how?”_

_After a moment the first woman spoke, and Masumi could almost hear the smirk on her face. “Well, if we can’t take out the Lancers, then we can stop them from training more. Starting with him.”_

_A flash of violet light filled the air and Hokuto and Yaiba had to hold Masumi back so she wouldn’t bolt out and give them away._

_“No…” her voice cracked as she trembled in their grip. She wanted to run out there, but doing so would mean instant death. She knew that light, everyone who’d seen the Maiami Championship footage knew that light. Marco had been turned into a card._

_“We have to get everyone out of this school,” she hissed, “Now.”_

_“But how?” asked Yaiba with a frown. “We can’t get to the office from here, they’re in the way, we’ll be caught.”_

_She bit her thumb as she looked around before noticing something on the wall that could help. Slipping from their grip she ran towards the fire alarm, and pulled it hard._

 

“At first it was just LDS, but then they started attacking other schools, and bringing in backup,” she said. “And it got out of control so fast.” Masumi’s shoulders shook as she put her face in her hand. “How, how did they even know about the Lancers in the first place? It doesn’t even make sense.”

“The only ones who knew about the Lancers were…oh no.” Yuzu trailed off as a look of horror crossed her face.

“What is it?” asked Masumi, raising her head to look at Yuzu.

“Dennis.”

“Macfield? The exchange student? Why would he have anything to do with this?”

“Because he’s a Fusion spy. He’s the only way they could have found out, the only person who knew.”

Masumi clenched her jaw, hands shaking, “Where is he now?”

“Back in Fusion most likely. He kidnapped a friend of ours while we were in the Synchro dimension, and vanished right in front of us.” Yuzu shook her head, “I’m sorry, I don’t know anything else. I wouldn’t even know how to find him.” Masumi opened her mouth to speak but Yuzu continued, cutting her off before she began. “And don’t even think of chasing after him, going to Fusion would be suicide! You’d be carded on sight.”

“I’m not stupid, they need me here. We have too much on our plates to spare anyone. But if you see him again, give him hell for me, got it? He deserves everything coming to him.”

 

“Yuya, are you going to be ok?” asked Yuto, placing a hand on his shoulder.

The tears had finally stopped flowing and Yuya seemed to have regained some kind of composure.

“I don’t know,” said Yuya, shaking his head. “But Yuto, this needs to stop. We can’t let Academia keep doing this.” He clenched and unclenched his hands at his sides, fighting to keep from breaking down. “I don’t know what they’re planning, but they already tried to invade this place once, we can’t let it happen again.”

“You want us to go to the Xyz dimension.”

Yuya nodded, “Take Ruri, two of you looking is better than one.”

Yuto nodded, “I will. And Yuya, take care of yourself.”


	57. Xyz Arc part 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See Arc V, throwing in a second Zexal cameo isn't that hard. 
> 
> For those who haven't watched Zexal, [Orbital 7](http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Orbital_7) is a robot created by Kaito Tenjo in Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal. He is multifunctional. I see no reason for him not to exist here.

Shun leapt from the building window with a thud, pausing a moment to wait for Sawatari and Gongenzaka, the former of which was hanging off the edge, legs swinging wildly under him.

Shun sighed, “Just let go, you’re not that high up.”

There was a yelp and a thud as Sawatari hit the ground, landing none to gracefully. There was a much heavier thud as Gongenzaka leapt down after him, the ground practically shaking when he landed.

As soon as it was morning, something that was difficult to tell with the seemingly perpetual cloud cover, the trio left the abandoned school to try and find any remaining members of the Resistance. Shun was insistent, there was no way that there was no one left in the entirety of Heartland.

“If you’re done messing around, let’s keep going.”

“Right behind you!” chirped Sawatari, leaping to his feet and dusting himself off.

Gongenzaka sighed and shook his head, arms folded over his chest as he followed behind them.

He wasn’t sure what Sawatari had done the night before, but he seemed to be in marginally better spirits, considering the circumstances, and didn’t seem to be as upset as he had been. And he seemed to be on better terms with Shun, which was definitely a good thing. Anything was better than dealing with Sawatari sulking.

Sawatari had begun to natter away about something when Shun raised a hand, silencing him.

“I heard something,” he whispered, pressing his back against the remains of a large building to hide himself, the other two following suit. He waited for a moment before indicating for them to stay and going off ahead to the source of the noise.

Sawatari strained to listen, it was faint but he could hear something, it sounded like voices talking, though he couldn’t make out what they were saying, or how many there were.

There was a loud shriek and he almost leapt from his hiding spot, but a quick hand from Gongenzaka held him back.

Sawatari clenched his jaw, readying himself for a fight as the sound of footsteps approached

“It’s alight, they’re friends,” came Shun’s voice after a few moments.

Shun rounded the corner, tailed by two more duelists, a girl and a boy. The girl hung back nervously, adjusting her glasses as she peered past Shun.

“So who are these guys?” asked the boy, hands on his hips as he studied Sawatari and Gongenzaka. He had deep copper coloured hair and teal eyes and looked to be wearing a poncho over top of a hoodie.

Sawatari grinned and pointed at himself with his thumb, “I’m the Hyper Ultra Strong Duelist Sawatari Shingo!” he announced. “And this is Noboru Gongenzaka, my student.”

Gongenzaka sighed, rubbing his forehead with one hand.

“They’re allies,” said Shun with a sigh, “Sawatari, Gongenzaka, this is Allen and Sayaka.”

“And you’re sure we can trust hem?” asked Allen, looking Sawatari up and down.

“I’m sure,” said Shun with a nod. “Allen, what happened here?” he asked. “Spade branch was…what happened to it?”

Allen’s shoulders dropped and he ran a hand though his hair with a sigh. “I think we should find somewhere to sit and talk,” he said. “It’s a long story.”

 

_The moment her eyes opened, Ruri’s hands flew to her stomach, feeling for the metal she remembered sticking through her gut, only to feel nothing._

_Confused she looked down, dragging her hands over her belly. Nothing, there was no wound, not even a scar to mark it._

_“What on earth?”_

_It didn’t make sense; she’d been impaled, so there should have been something, anything there. But there was nothing, as if she hadn’t been injured._

_As she moved her hand, something else gave her pause._

_Gems, glittering gems of blue and gold dotted her arms and body, contrasting brightly against the deep blue-black of her skin._

_Ruri went to stand, and felt a weight pull her backwards. Tilting her head she saw the cause, a pair of glittering, brassy wings._

_“Why do I have wings?” she wondered, stretching and folding them several times to make sure they were real._

_Trembling she looked towards the sky. It was dark, nighttime she assumed, and the sky was awash with stars, and the land around her painted in hues of violet and indigo._

_“Well, I’m not at home any more,” she thought. “So, is this what happens when we die? I wonder if that means Yuto’s here too?”_

 

“Ruri?” She jumped as Yuto’s hand touched her shoulder, jolting her from her thoughts as she gazed at the sky outside the palace. She’d been thinking about the day she’d first arrived in the Barian World.

It had seemed so alien then, but now, it almost felt homely.

“What is it Yuto?” she asked. “Is Yuya ok?”

“I wouldn’t say he’s ok, not after what he went though, but he’s calmer now,” said Yuto.

“That’s good,” she said with a relieved nod.

“He was talking with Yuri when I left, so he’s in good hands. But we have something we need to do,” he said. “We’re going home Ruri.”

“Home? Back to Heartland?”

He nodded, “We need to find those crystals before Academia does.”

“Is it safe for us to go?” she asked.

“I don’t think anywhere is safe at this point,” said Yuto, crossing his arms as he followed her gaze out across the land. “But it’ll be less safe if Academia gets their hands on the Baria crystals. We won’t even be safe here.”

“Home, it feels like ages since we were there,” she said, chest heaving with a sigh.

Yuto placed his hand on hers gently, slipping his fingers in the spaces between hers.

“Come on, we shouldn’t waste any more time.”

 

Heartland, it didn’t look all that different from when they’d left, a ruined mess.

Ruri shivered, moving closer to Yuto as they stood among the wreckage that had once been buildings.

Once Heartland might have brought back good memories, warm memories of home and of playing with Shun and Yuto outside. But this, this wreck, brought forth nothing but painful memories.

“I think, we’re downtown,” said Yuto as he looked around. “See, that looks like the fountain and the…the park.” He trailed off, voice cracking as he looked at the damage.

The once green fields were burned into nothingness, the beautiful skyscrapers that reached into the sky now reduced to rubble. The fountain was nearly dry, leaking filthy water out though a crack in the side.

“We should be a few blocks away,” he said, biting back tears. “From where it happened.”

Ruri slipped her hand into his, squeezing it gently. “Come on, let’s keep moving.”

As they started walking a pair of red eyes blinked to life in a pile of trash as something whirred to life. Silently it watched them walk down the street and round a corner before rolling out of its hiding spot.

“K-K-Kaito-sama is going to want to see this!” it warbled nervously, wheels spinning as it took off in the opposite direction.

 

Yuya paced around the crystal halls, rubbing his arms nervously and dragging his nails over the gems on his forearms. His mind was a whirlwind of thoughts and he couldn’t think straight. Too many things were happening, to many bad things and he didn’t know what to do any more.

“Yuya if you don’t stop you’re going to wear a hole in the floor,” said Yuri. “And considering these are harder than stone, that would be a feat.”

Yuya froze, head whipping in the direction of his voice. “Yuri!” His arms fell to his sides as he ran towards him. “I need to talk to you.”

“You do?”

“Well, I have questions, maybe you can answer them.”

Yuri raised an eyebrow, “Oh, what makes you think I can answer them?”

Yuya rubbed his arm, “Well, they have to do with Academia and, I figured that since you were from there you might know,” he said quietly.

“Ah. I’ll try. Can we sit?”

“Oh, yeah sure.”

He settled down beside Yuri on the steps, hands on his knees, still shaking slightly.

“So, what questions about Academia do you want me to answer?”

“Yuri, can people be turned back? When they’ve been turned into card, is there a way to turn them back, to restore them?” His voice shook as he spoke, looking to Yuri almost hopefully, wringing his hands together.

Yuri’s stomach sank as he looked at Yuya, he looked so, broken.

“Please, you have to tell me!”

“I don’t know,” said Yuri after a moment. “If there was a way, it wasn’t something any of us were told how to do. All we were told was that everyone would be reborn in the new world.”

Yuya wilted and Yuri felt a pang of, something, guilt perhaps, when his face fell.

“I’m…sorry. You mentioned your mother earlier, I assume she…?”

“They carded her,” said Yuya, dropping his head as tears misted his vision again. “They got her, and my teacher too,” he drew his knees up, wrapping his arms around them as he bowed his head. “Why, why is this happening?”

“I don’t know,” said Yuri, placing a hand on the back of Yuya’s head, stroking his hair in a soothing manner. “I wasn’t aware The Professor was even interested in Standard. Attacking it seems strange.”

“What about prisoners?” asked Yuya after a moment, lifting his head slightly from where it lay on his knees. “If they had captured you and taken you back to Academia, what do you think they would have done?”

“Well, I think first they would have questions for me; especially if they did what they wanted and took me to The Professor. After all, he thinks I’m dead.”

Yuya snorted and wiped his eyes, trying to dry the tears. “Ok smart ass, aside from that. If they thought you were alive and took you back, what would happen to you?”

Yuri’s brow furrowed and his face creased in thought.

“I don’t know,” he said after a moment. “Runaways and traitors, Academia usually cards them on sight so we don’t have to waste time and space on dealing with them. But if I was dragged back to The Professor, I can’t imagine it would end well for me. Interrogated, punished, probably given to the Doktor to use for some kind of test. I mean, he was willing to suppress my memories, I think his ethics and morals are, flexible at best.” He looked down at Yuya, who had hung his head again, shoulders shaking. “Why do you ask?”

“Sora. They got Sora. When we were in the Synchro dimension, Dennis got Sora. He took him back to Academia and I-we can save him right? If they took him alive then, there’s still a chance right?” He looked up at Yuri hopefully, reaching for the winged Barian’s hands. “If they took him alive then there’s a reason, they wouldn’t-they wouldn’t do anything to him, would they?”

Yuri tensed as Yuya grabbed him, startled by the sudden bout of physical affection.

“I-I don’t know Yuya. I really don’t know. He might be in no danger, but he also could be.”

Yuya clenched his eyes shut tightly, tears burning at the corners. “What good am I, I couldn’t even save him. How am I supposed to save everyone if I can’t even save my friends? Five worlds are counting on me-on us-and I can’t even save one person.”

“Because you don’t have to do this alone,” said Yuri. “You have all of us behind you. And we will do this. And, we’ll get Sora back for you.”

 

“Kaito-sama, Kaito-sama!” A small white and gold robot shrieked as it rolled through the rubble, bumping over each and every bit of debris in the way.

Seated atop the pile of rubble was a blond haired young man, a scrap of red fabric wound tightly around his right had, which itself was balled into a fist.

“Be quiet Orbital, or do you want us to be found?” he asked, steely blue eyes turning to look at the robot.

“S-s-sorry Kaito-sama. But, this is important!”

Slowly he turned to face the robot, a scowl etched onto his features. “It better be.”

Orbital came to a stop in front of him and chest plate cracked open to reveal a dirty, cracked screen.

“I was out scouting like you ordered me to do and, I saw something.” Orbital tapped its finger-like digits together as the screen flickered to life.

As Kaito watched the images play out the scowl on his face deepened and his forehead creased.

“Orbital, what is this? If this is some kind of sick joke!”

“It’s not!” the robot shrieked. “I swear I saw it happen. My optics never lie, you should know, you made them yourself.”

Kaito tightened his fists as he looked back at the image on the screen, of Yuto and Ruri, hand in hand as they made their way through the ruins of Heartland.

“I-I took some readings to, Kaito-sama. I think you might want to look at these.” The screen flickered as the image of Ruri and Yuto was replaced with another, this time a series of readings, vital signs.

Kaito’s eyes widened as he took in the information.

“Orbital, are you sure this is correct?”

“100% sir!”

Kaito rubbed his chin as he stared at the data, tapping the screen with a finger. “Orbital, we’re going after them.”


	58. Xyz Arc part 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for, minor gore, I guess.  
> I don't think it warrants a rating change(but if you think so tell me).

“You don’t suppose we’re going to run into Academia here are we?” asked Ruri, hand curled around Yuto’s as they walked.

Yuto looked ahead, bracing himself as a breeze whipped past him. “I hope not. But it seems too quiet. They like to make noise, to announce their presence.” He frowned, “I wonder what happened to everyone else. I hope they’re ok.”

“Do you really think we can stop Academia?”

“We have to.”

They lapsed into silence as they walked, neither one daring to speak as they walked.

Ruri shivered, the memories of her own death lingered in her mind and being back home and among the rubble only served to make it worse. It was her home, but to see it like this, she didn’t want to be there, not at all.

“Yuto, is it wrong that I want to leave when we’re done here?” she asked finally. “I know this is home but I don’t like it here. Seeing it like this…I can’t stand it.”

Yuto’s eyes softened, “If you want to leave when we’re done, I have no objections.”

“This place is just so sad, it breaks my heart.”

He gaze swept over the desolate landscape, at the buildings that once reached to the sky, and parks once lush and green and full of laughing people.

“I still don’t understand, how can you do this, to create a utopia?” she asked. “You can’t make a paradise by destroying everything.”

Gravel and glass crunched softly under foot as they walked, ears straining to listen for any noise that might indicate that they weren’t alone.

 

“We should be close,” said Yuto, letting out a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding as they came to stop near the remains of an apartment. “You know, considering how we died, we might have to dig,” he said, scratching his head. “The crystals could be buried. I hope not though, that could take a while.”

“If we have to dig we’ll never get to them,” said Ruri. “We might be strong, but we’re not that strong.”

Yuto laughed softly, “True, we’d need an army to move some of these piles. Unless we just blast them. But that’s only if you want everyone in the area to know we’re here,” said Yuto. “Which we don’t.”

“Stop right where you are!”

Yuto froze, though not because of the command, but because he knew the voice. His head shot up, up to the top of a pile of rubble and junk where the speaker stood, arms folded over his chest.

“Kaito!”

If Kaito was still alive that was a good sign, he was one of the strongest members of the resistance in Yuto’s memory and the biggest thorn in Academia’s side.

“I said stop!” snapped Kaito as Yuto took a step forward. “How dare you, how dare you bastards walk around and wear the faces of our dead.”

“Kaito, it’s me, Yuto.”

Kaito snarled, upper lip curling up in disgust. “You’re not Yuto, because Yuto’s dead. I will make you pay for this disrespect. I knew Academia was low, but to go so far as to defile the memory of our dead like this, it’s despicable.”

“Kaito please, it really is us,” pleaded Ruri.

“Do you take me for a fool? Yuto and Ruri are dead, I put them to rest myself!” A blue, crescent shaped blade flashed to life on his arm and Yuto and Ruri leapt back, he meant for a fight.

Yuto hissed, grabbing Ruri’s wrist as he turned to run. There was no way they stood a chance against him in a fight, not like this, running was their only option.

“Don’t you dare, you are not running, not this time.”

Yuto had barely taken a step when something shot out and clamped onto his wrist, just under his duel disk.

“What the hell?”

Beside him Ruri screamed as the same thing happened to her, tugging her back towards Kaito.

“These will ensure you can’t flee until you duel is finished. Now, I hope you’ve prayed to whatever god you believe in, because you’ll be meeting them soon.”

 

_“Orbital, what was that?”_

_“I do believe we are under attack sir.”_

_“Don’t be a smart ass.”_

_Kaito grabbed the edge of the table as he pulled himself to his feet, a massive shockwave having knocked him to the floor when it shook the building. Outside the sound of screams filled the air as more explosions hit._

_Kaito pulled the cloth around his hand tighter, digging his nails into his palm, the red fabric the only thing keeping him from clawing his own hand. The list of the injured and missing was growing, and worrying still, Yuto, Ruri and Shun were still among the latter. The longer they remained missing, the higher the chance that they wouldn’t be found alive. That was the last thing he wanted._

_“Kaito, we found them.”_

_Kaito had seen death before, at this point in the invasion it was inevitable, but that didn’t make it any easier when it happened. But this, this time it was different, this time it was personal._

_His gaze landed first on Ruri, surrounded by concrete and glass from what was left of the building behind her. A large, twisted piece of rebar stuck out of her back._

_She’d gone quickly, with her spine severed in such a way it was unlikely she ever felt anything, dead before she hit the ground._

_Yuto on the other hand, he hadn’t been so lucky. The sorry state of his hands and nails suggested he’s spent his final moments clawing at the debris pile heaped on him, covering everything from the middle of his chest on down. Until he was dug out, Kaito had no way of knowing how he’d died._

_He clenched his fist again, nails pressing into the fabric wrapped around his palm._

_“Well, don’t just leave them there!” he barked to those working on digging them out. “They deserve better.”_

_“I found Kurosaki!” called a voice from inside a nearby building. “And I think he’s still alive!”_

_“Shun, Shun, Shun!” Kaito slapped Shun’s cheek none to gently as he called his name, Shun sputtering and slurring his words as his eyes fluttered open._

_It looked like he’d gone though the window, if the glass around him was any indication._

_“Kai…to?”_

_“Good, you’re not dead after all.”_

_“Yu…to, Ruri,” Shun made a feeble grab at Kaito’s shoulder, trying to pull himself to his feet, his other hand pressed against the side of his head._

_“You sit,” said Kaito, pushing him back down. “You’re in no shape to move.”_

_“Where…where are they? Where are my sister and my best friend?”_

_Shun moved before Kaito could react, pushing past him and knocking him to the ground as he made a beeline for the door._

_“Wait! Shun don’t go out there!”_

_It was too late, Shun was outside, and by the time Kaito reached the door he could hear his anguished howls._

_Shun sank to his knees at the sight of his little sister and best friend, laid out almost peacefully among the wreckage. At a first glance one might think they were asleep, eyes shut and hands folded carefully on their stomachs. But as he got closer it became clear that wasn’t the case, no one could sleep that stilly or quietly._

_Shun looked away quickly, his stomach lurching at the sight and threatening to be sick everywhere._

_A trickle of blood had dried on the corner of Yuto’s mouth and his clothes were stained red. Even as gently as he was laid out, it was clear that whatever had happened to him had been traumatic and brutal. The exposed skin was covered in blossoming bruises, a sure sign he’d been alive for some time under there. His legs lay at awkward angles, twisted and crushed from the weight of the building. His clothing was torn and a gaping wound could be seen between his fingers from where something had impaled him._

_“No, no please Yuto open your eyes. Wake up please.” His hands shook as he reached for Yuto, grabbing his shoulder. “You have to wake up, you have to.” Yuto’s head rolled back, falling limp as Shun picked him up._

_Ruri didn’t look nearly as battered as Yuto, her only visible wound a single pierce wound through her abdomen, but it was enough. “Ruri, no, please no.”_

_“Shun, they’re gone,” said Kaito, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Let them go.”_

_“Why didn’t you save them? You could have saved them!” He clutched them tighter, refusing to release them._

_“We were too late!” snapped Kaito. “They were already gone by the time we got here. I’m sorry, there was nothing we could do.”_

_As he worked to pry Shun’s hands free he gestured for someone to come help him._

_“Get him out of here and have him looked at, he hit his head hard,” he said, pushing Shun off onto someone else._

_“How could this happen?” asked Shun, tears trickling down his face. Shun had told them to run ahead while he worked at holding off Academia, but after being thrown through the window everything was a blank._

_“It looks like they might have been caught in an explosion,” said Kaito as Shun was hauled to his feet._

_“Yuto…Ruri…”_

_Kaito tuned away as Shun left, clenching his jaw and tightening his fist. This shouldn’t have happened, not to them, not to anyone._

_“Orbital, find the nearest gas station that still has gasoline, we’re going to need a lot of it,” he said._

_“Right away sir!” the small robot gave a quick salute before trundling off down the road._

_Kaito looked down at Ruri and Yuto before shutting his eyes tightly. They deserved better, the deserved a proper burial, but they didn’t have the time for that. And he wasn’t even sure there was anywhere left for a suitable burial. Which left only one alternative._

_Kaito was still standing there hours later when Orbital returned, hauling behind him a sizable tanker of gasoline._

_He’d long since sent everyone back, keeping silent vigil on his own. The only thing new was a worn blanket that he’d had brought to him and placed over their cold, lifeless forms._

_“Douse them,” he said. “And Orbital, make sure nothing’s left when you’re done.”_


	59. Xyz Arc part 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Kaito continuation is...next week.
> 
> Also incase anyone forgot Isao=Kachidoki Isao, the one Yuya went Berserk mode against the first time in the anime.

“You want me to do what?” asked Yuzu.

“Come on patrol with me,” said Masumi. “There’s no sense in just sitting around now is there, and you told me that Yuya’s off in good hands, so you don’t have to worry about him.” She flexed her hands as she pulled a pair of gloves on, “Hopefully it’ll be quiet, but Isao reported seeing clusters of Academia students still running around. If we have to, I’d like to deal with them before they become a problem. Besides, you look like you could use a chance to get out of here.”

“By take care of, do you mean…?”

“I mean fight them and hopefully drive them off,” said Masumi. “I’m not a barbarian.”

Yuzu breathed a sigh of relief, the idea of having to card someone, or worse, too horrifying to her. “Alright, let’s go then.”

 

_“Yuri, does the name Zarc mean anything to you?”_

_Yuri tilted his head curiously before shaking it, “No, I’m afraid not. Why?”_

_Yuya shook his head, “It’s nothing really. Just someone.”_

_Yuri rolled his eyes, “I gathered that much. Is it someone you know?”_

_“I dunno, we only talked once but, it felt like I knew him,” said Yuya. “But, that’s probably just because we share a face.”_

_“Share…a face?” asked Yuri. “Did he have grey hair and gold eyes?”_

_Yuya froze, slowly turning to look at him. “How did you know?”_

 

Now, Yuya had even more questions he needed answered. Why had Zarc called him Odd-Eyes, why had Yuri seen Zarc? What connection did they have to Zarc really? He’d barely gotten answers the last time, having been rushed and unceremoniously thrust back into his own body. Or he supposed that’s what Zarc had tried to do. He wasn’t sure ending up in his Odd-Eyes’ body was what was supposed to happen.

He sighed as he sat down among the crystals atop the palace, staring up at the sky; he had questions but no idea how to get hold of Zarc.

Zarc was inside of him it seemed, so how could he talk to him? They’d never talked before until he’d been forced in there, so it wasn’t as if it was an easy thing to even do.

“Zarc, how do I talk to you?” he whined. “I have questions for you, and you owe me answers.” Surely there was some way to just summon him up right?

Unnoticed, his Pendulum flashed with light and the next thing he knew, he found himself face to face with Zarc. Or at least, his spirit, as he was considerably more translucent than the last time Yuya had seen him.

Yuya leapt back in surprise, giving a startled screech at the sight of him.

“Where did you come from?”

“Is that any way to talk to me? If I recall, you called me here,” he said, tapping Yuya’s forehead with a finger.

“How?” squeaked Yuya. “I thought you were, you know, inside my head. How can you be here?”

“This place, it’s overflowing with energy. It’s a lot easier to talk with you here, especially now that we’ve talked once,” said Zarc. “And I am dead in a sense, as I have no body of my own any more.”

“I hope you stay longer this time, you owe me some answers.”

Zarc smiled, settling down beside Yuya, who'd sat down with a sigh. “Well you don’t look on the verge of a breakdown so I think we have time. What did you want to ask?”

Yuya sighed, “I don’t even know where to begin, there’s to many things I want to know, too many things I need to know. Like, who _are_ you? Why do you look like me, and like Yuto and Yugo and Yuri? I know you showed me your memories but I’m still confused. And why did you call me Odd-Eyes?”

“Yuya, can I tell you a story?”

“A story?”

Zarc nodded, “It’s a bit of a long one though, so I hope you have time. And I hope I have time.”

“Will it help me understand?”

“I hope so.” He leaned back on his hands, looking up at the sky, “It starts with two immortals, let’s call them Destruction and Creation. Some also call them Order and Chaos, but what they were called doesn’t really matter. They existed in harmony with one another and balanced each other out. And their harmony kept the world in balance.

Destruction became curious about the humans he was charged with protecting and decided to live among them to learn more. Creation soon followed him, as did his four most faithful servants and friends, the Four Heavenly Dragons. They would be reincarnated many times, and each and every time they would find each other.

Then one day an all-consuming darkness appeared, leaving a swath of devastation in its wake. Everywhere it went, it left behind a tail of nothing, devouring any and all life in its path.

Destruction thought himself strong enough to defeat it, but he was wrong and was consumed by the darkness.

Creation sought to cleanse him of the darkness, but instead tore his tainted soul in four, splitting it among the Heavenly Dragons that had he fused himself with.

But the world craves balance, and four Avatars of Destruction is to much for one world, and so one world became four, and Creation too was split so she would always be with Destruction, even over four worlds.”

Zarc sighed, turning to look at Yuya, “And the rest is history.”

Yuya was quiet for a moment, letting the words sink in. “So, you called me Odd-Eyes because…”

“Because that was your name in your first life, Odd-Eyes Dragon. Odd-Eyes, Dark Rebellion, Clear Wing, and Stave Venom, those were the names of the Four Heavenly Dragons.”

Yuya’s eyes widened, he was Odd-Eyes? “But how is that possible? I’m not a dragon, I’m me!”

“The Four Heavenly Dragons weren’t always reborn as dragons, and in this life you, and the others, were reborn with a fragment of my soul inside,” said Zarc. “Why do you think you look like me?”

“Coincidence?”

Zarc shook his head, “I highly doubt it. Not four times over, eight if we count Ray’s soul fragments.”

“So this darkness, it’s inside all of us then?” asked Yuya. “Inside Yuto, Yugo, Yuri and I. If that’s the case, why are Yuto and I the only ones affected?”

Zarc shrugged, “I don’t know, perhaps you had more stressors to bring it out, perhaps my soul wasn’t evenly split and you two got more of it. But it will stop at nothing to finish what it started.”

Yuya drew his knees close, “So I have two things to worry about, this darkness trying to destroy everything through me, and The Professor trying to make all the dimensions one. On top of that, we’re tied to this dimension and it’s fate.” He whined and buried his head in his knees. “This isn’t fair.”

“Life’s not fair kid.” Zarc frowned, “I don’t know what this Professor guy is thinking though. You’d need the power of Creation at the very least to be able to make the dimensions one. Which obviously he doesn’t have.”

 _The power of Creation_ , Yuya lifted his head, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “Zarc, would Yuzu and the other girls have that power? Being parts of Ray and all.”

“Not on their own, just as you on your own don’t have my powers. And even just bringing them together wouldn’t be enough.”

Yuya nodded, that much was true, as he’d seen all of them together before and nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

“Though I imagine that doing anything to them would have serious consequences for the four dimensions. Balance and all that.”

“Consequences?”

Zarc nodded, “I told you, the world craves balance, so Creation and Destruction must always be together. Even in the single dimension we had to exist together, we always died and were reborn within moments of one another. I suspect that’s why you all ended up, here.” He made a gesture with his hand to the world around them. “To keep all of you together. Destruction and Creation are the pillars of the world, the keep it balanced. And in this case, since you have multiple worlds, keeps them connected. Take out one, and the whole thing collapses.”

Slowly, Yuya turned his head to look at Zarc as his words struck a chord with him. Pillars, balance, connections, he’d heard all that before, except with a different word.

“One of the soldiers from Academia that Yuri interrogated said they were searching for something on the Professor’s orders, something in each dimension that sounded like it connected each of the dimensions,” he said. “They said they were supposed to destroy it.”

“Sounds like you guys,” said Zarc with a nod. “Or me if this had been a single dimension.”

Yuya was on his feet in a flash, dashing towards the stairs. “I’m sorry, I need to find Yuri, it’s important.”

“What is, Yuya where are you going?” The farther Yuya got from him, the fainter Zarc got, vanishing like a ghost.

“We were wrong,” he said, pausing momentarily at the top of the stairs. “The crystals were never the nexus points of the dimensions, it was us all along!”


	60. Xyz Arc part 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's a bit later than normal, was busy today.

Yuzu was torn, one on hand she wanted to find the people responsible for what had happened to her home and make them pay, but on the other if the really were that strong then avoiding them was a good idea.

She’d spent the last hour wandering though the remains of Maiami city with Masumi, and so far the most life they had seen were some pigeons they had scared.

“Is he sure he saw anyone?” asked Yuzu. “I’m beginning to think Yuya scared everyone into hiding.”

“Good, and I hope they stay hiding,” said Masumi, a scowl seemingly permanently pressed on her face. “Or else they’ll have to deal with me.”

“Do they have a base somewhere?” asked Yuzu.

Masumi nodded, “Yeah, but we’re not stupid enough to take it head on, it’ll be crawling with soldiers from Academia. I’d be willing to bet that the Tyler sisters are there too.”

“Well, well, well sister look at what we have here. Looks like a pair of little lost mice separated from their group. What should we do Grace dear?”

I think we should have some fun, it’s been a while since we actually had a good duel.”

Masumi froze on the spot, duel disk out and eyes darting around as she searched for the source of the voices.

“Damn it,” she hissed, “They found us.”

“Who?”

“Gloria and Grace Tyler.”

“Ohh, Gloria, Gloria, they know our names too!” chirped a woman’s voice, almost excitedly. “This is going to be fun.”

Masumi gabbed Yuzu’s arm and leapt back, pulling Yuzu with her, as two tall women landed in front of them, leaping down from their perch above.

They were tall with waist length hair, one with silver-blond hair and green eyes, the other pale gold-blond hair and pink eyes.

“How long do you think it’ll take, Gloria?” asked the silver-haired woman. “To wipe them out.”

“It shouldn’t take to long.” She turned her gaze to Masumi, lips twitching into a malicious smirk. “I know you, you’re the little rat that got away.”

Masumi growled, duel disk materializing. “You! You’ll pay for what you did, to my home, to my friends!”

“Aww,” teased Gloria. “Look who has fangs now. Not going to run away this time?”

“Masumi, are these the ones?” asked Yuzu. “The ones who got my dad?”

Masumi nodded, “Yeah, they’re the ones,” she replied. “They led the invasion of this dimension. Yuzu, team up with me, we can’t let them escape.”

Yuzu nodded, her own duel disk flashing to life. “Oh don’t worry, I don’t want to let them go either.”

 

Yuto panted, legs shaking as he pulled himself to his feet. He knew as soon as the anchors attached to their wrists that they were in trouble. Kaito was good, no not just good, the best. There was a reason Academia has such a hard time catching him, why he’d hung on for so long.

If given the choice he wouldn’t have challenged Kaito to a duel, but Kaito hadn’t given them a choice, not if he was breaking out the duel anchors. Those would only come off at the conclusion of a duel, whatever that might be.

He watched in horror as Kaito took control of Dark Rebellion, dragging it across the field and turning it into another Galaxy Eyes.

Yuto clenched his jaw; this was bad, because even if it couldn’t attack he knew exactly where Kaito was going with this.

“Kaito listen to us!” he yelled, wincing as he moved.

“Never! I don’t know how you got his monsters, but I won’t continue to let you desecrate his memory like this. I activate the spell card, Cipher Interfere! Now battle damage will be doubled!”

Yuto’s eyes widened, with 6000 attack points, if this attack hit he was a goner for sure.

“I activate Mirror Force!”

All eyes turned to Ruri, who’d activated a face down she’d set several turns ago.

“Sorry Yuto, you’re going to lose Dark Rebellion as well,” said Ruri before turning her attention back to Kaito. “Mirror Force destroys all your face up monsters Kaito. Sorry, but this is one attack that won’t be connecting.” A shimmering barrier rose in font of her just before the attack connected, sending it firing right back at Kaito, and destroying the two dragons on the field.

Kaito hissed, his face twisted in a snarl. “Why, why? You look like them, you sound like them, and you even duel like them. But you’re not, because the dead can’t come back!”

“Kaito please, just let us explain!” shouted Ruri. “It’s not what you think, we’re not Academia!”

“I said be quiet!”

“It’s no use Ruri, he won’t listen,” said Yuto. “Not to our words anyways. I activate the spell card Rank-Up-Magic Burial of the Phantom Knights! I target the Phantom Knights Break Sword in my grave and summon it to the field. And then I rank it up by two!”

 

_From the depths of purgatory, dedicate to the unsinking souls your song of rebellion! Appear and echo forevermore!_

_Rank-Up Xyz Change!_

_Appear, Rank 5!_

_Dark Requiem Xyz Dragon!_

 

A large black and purple dragon appeared on the field, its body covered in bone-like armour. It flared its wings, a mosaic of colours filling them out to look like a stained glass window.

“Now Dark Requiem, attack! Disaster Disobey of Requiem!”

“I activate my trap, Double Dagon Descent, and summon Galaxy Eyes Cipher Dragon from my extra deck!”

Yuto froze as Kaito’s second Galaxy Eyes materialized on the field. And with the same attack points as Dark Requiem, the attack was stopped dead in its tracks.

“No, no.” There was nothing they could do, Kaito would always bring his dragon back, and there was no way Ruri could power up her Nightingale enough to get past it before his turn came around again.

Something cold hit his skin and he looked up at the sky in time for the rain to start. The thick, dark clouds overhead had finally begun to storm, cold rain streaking down from the heavens above.

“Rank-Up-Magic! Cipher Ascension!”

Yuto looked back to the field as Kaito’s Galaxy Eyes was enveloped in light and drawn into the overlay vortex.

 

_Galaxy shining in the darkness,_

_Release the forever-unchanging light and become the beacon that illuminates the future!_

_Rank-Up Xyz Change!_

_Descend, Rank 9!_

_Neo Galaxy-Eyes Cipher Dragon!_

Yuto felt his mouth go dry at the sight of the monster, wings flaring and shimmering with all the colours of the rainbow.

“I will make you pay for your disrespect! I remove all of Galaxy Eyes overlay units to activate its effect, taking control of both of your monsters!”

Yuto and Ruri gasped as Dark Requiem and Assembly Nightingale were dragged across the field and onto Kaito’s side.

“Now Neo Galaxy-Eyes, Double Cipher Stream of Destruction!”

One moment Yuto was standing on the ground, the next thing he knew he was airborne as a wave of shimmering, multi-coloured light slammed into him. His back met a rock and he howled in pain as he slid to the ground, his head spinning.

“I activate Miracle Galaxy!”

Yuto groaned in pain, “Ruri, run.”

“Neo Galaxy-Eyes, attack again! Double Cipher Stream of Destruction!”

“Ruri!”

Ruri screeched as she was flung through the air, landing in a heap beside Yuto.

“Damn it, we couldn’t get through to him,” groaned Yuto, popping himself up on his elbows as he looked up as Kaito advanced on them.

“Kaito stop!”

Kaito, Yuto and Ruri froze, a smile breaking across Yuto and Ruri’s faces.

“Shun!”

 

“Masumi, what do we do?” asked Yuzu, taking a step and backing into her partner.

Gloria and Grace were good, having easily pushed them into a corner with their impeccable tag dueling combo. The combination of monsters and spells meant that their attacks were barely getting through, negating destruction and damage at every turn, only a few hits having gotten in before they were walled up.

“Pray for luck,” she said. “Because this is one duel we can’t afford to lose.”

Gloria smirked, one hand resting on her hip. “This duel was fun, but it’s time to end this. I activate the spell Block Attack, it’s time to deal with that pesky Topaz.”

“No!” Masumi yelped as her monster lowered itself onto one knee, arms crossed over its chest.

“Now Amazoness Empress, destroy her lowly knight and wipe out the remains of their life points!”

Masumi clenched her eyes shut, this was it; the moment the attack connected they would lose the rest of their life points and the duel, and quite possibly their lives as well.

The next thing she knew a pair of arms were wrapped around her middle, lifting her off the ground.

“I activate the Action Magic: Evade!”

There was a crashing sound as Amazoness Empress’ sword collided with a barrier that had risen between it and Gem-Knight Topaz.

“Yuzu, what?”

There was a soft thump as Yuzu landed, setting Masumi on the ground and turning back to Gloria and Grace.

“I’m not letting it end like this! Now it’s my turn!”

Slowly, Masumi opened her eyes and looked up at Yuzu and gaped. She could only see Yuzu from behind, but it was clear she was different. Her school uniform had been traded in for a long dress that looked like a flower, the petal skirt flowing down around her knees. Her hair was free of its pigtails, flowing down past her shoulders and adorned with small flowers. When her arms moved Masumi noticed what looked like tiny blue gems glittering on her skin.

“I activate Monster Reborn, and summon Crystal Rose from the graveyard.”

A rose made of cut gemstones appeared on the field. “And then, using my scale 3 Treble the Melodious, and scale 9 Bass the Melodious I set the Pendulum scale!”

 

_“Ah Yuzu, are you heading out with Masumi?” asked Michio._

_Yuzu looked up as she finished tying her boots. “I am, why?”_

_He smiled and held out some cards, “You use Melodious monsters yes? I think you might be able to make use of these.”_

_“These are Pendulum cards?”_

_Michio nodded, “They are, we assume they were among the ones that Leo Corporation was developing. Take them, the might come in handy.”_

 

“I Pendulum Summon! Now come forth, Aria the Melodious Diva, and Mozarta the Melodious Maestra!”

Light shone from within the Pendulum circle as two steaks shot towards the field, revealing the two monsters.

 

“I activate Fusion and fuse together the Crystal Rose and Aria on my field.”

 

_Echoing melodious voice! Crystalline bloom!_

_With the guidance of the baton, gather your power!_

_Fusion Summon!_

_Now come here to the stage! Sing the song of victory!_

_Bloom Diva the Melodious Choir!_

 

A shimmering pink lotus blossom appeared on the field, the closed petals bursting open to reveal a delicate looking fairy monster, ribbons shimmering around her arms.

“Next I activate Pianissimo, and I choose Bloom Diva to be the target, lowering her attack to 100! Now attack Amazoness Empress!”

Gloria scoffed, “Now you’re just tying to lose.”

“Yuzu, what are you doing?” asked Masumi.

Yuzu turned slightly to look at her and Masumi felt her breath catch in her throat at the sight of Yuzu’s mouthless face. “Trust me Masumi, I know what I’m doing.” She turned back to the twins. “First, I activate Treble’s pendulum effect, when one of my monsters attacks, all your monster effects are negated! I activate Bloom Diva’s effect. When she’s battling a monster she isn’t destroyed, instead, your monster is destroyed and you’ll take the difference in their attack points as damage! Now Bloom Diva, take them down! Reflect Shout!”

A flurry of pink petals gushed forth, streaking past the fusion monster on the other side of the field and colliding with Gloria and Grace.

Masumi could only stare in shock from her spot on the ground, too stunned to even pick herself up.

“And now, Mozarta, take out their remaining monster!”

The red-gowned monster spread her arms, energy charging in the palms of her hands.

As Yuzu turned back to her, Masumi stumbled back in an attempt to move away, looking up at her partner with wide eyes.

“What are you?” she asked, voice soft.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I created a set of Melodious Pendulums. Because neither canon nor metagame gave us any.


	61. Xyz Arc part 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually split this chapter up, it was longer. 
> 
> Figured this PLUS a duel after (AND the things that follow it) might be a bit much. And breaking it AFTER the duel would have resulted in a very tiny chapter.
> 
> UPDATE: I tweaked a couple lines in the confrontation between Yuto & Ruri and Kaito. ;P

Shun had heard the sounds of a fight, but wasn’t going to pay it any attention until he head the familiar cry of Kaito’s Galaxy Eyes. Then he ran, practically leaving the others behind in his haste.

“Kaito!” He leapt through the rocks as he came upon the scene of the fight, and battle beaten forms of Yuto and Ruri lying among the ruins. “Kaito stop!”

All eyes tuned to him as he leapt down, landing between them.

“Shun, get out of the way,” growled Kaito. “These imposters must be dealt with.”

Shun looked back at Yuto and Ruri, who were slowly pulling themselves off the muddy ground.

“They’re not imposters Kaito.”

“Kurosaki, move or I’ll card you as well,” said Kaito, narrowing his eyes, hand hovering over his duel disk.

“Please Kaito, listen to us,” pleaded Ruri, leaning on Yuto’s shoulder.

“Shun! What’s going on? Why’d you take off like…that?” Allen rounded the corner, Sayaka, Sawatari and Gongenzaka in tow, voice trailing off when he caught sight of Yuto and Ruri.

“Allen, Sayaka!” Ruri leapt to her feet swiftly, stumbling before Yuto caught her. “You-you’re alive!”

Allen took a step back, a mask of fear on his face, one arm held out to hold Sayaka back. “That…that’s not possible, how are you standing there?” he asked.

Sayaka covered her mouth with a soft gasp, blue eyes wide.

“Kaito how are Ruri and Yuto standing there?” he asked.

“Because they aren’t Yuto and Ruri, they’re just imposters.”

Shun moved again, keeping his body between them as Kaito tied to sidestep around him, “It is them Kaito!”

“Yuto and Ruri are dead! I cremated them myself; I identified the bodies when we found them in the rubble. The dead cannot come back to life!” He shook as he spoke, rain rolling down his face like tears.

“What can we do to prove it to you?” asked Yuto. “What will it take?”

Kaito was quiet as he stared them down; chest heaving with every breath took. “Kattobingu, what does it mean?” he asked finally.

“Katto…Kaito that’s not a fair question,” said Ruri. “You never told us what it meant, no matter how many times we asked.”

Kaito sighed, hand falling to his side before he lowered his arm.

“I have one other question for you then. What are you?”

There was a moment of silence before Yuto spoke. “Excuse me?”

“If you are who you say you are, then what are you?” asked Kaito. “Because you aren’t human. Orbital took readings when he you saw you earlier. I don’t know who you are, or what you are.”

“Whoawhoawhoa, what do you mean dead‽” screeched Sawatari. “I mean they’re standing right there.”

“He means we died during the invasion,” said Yuto. “We were ambushed by soldiers from Academia, and while we were fleeing a building exploded beside us. Ruri and I, we perished in that attack. Kaito is right about that much.” He sighed, “You asked what we were Kaito? Fine.”

“Yuto, are you sure?” asked Ruri.

“What choice do we have?” asked Yuto. “It might be the only way.” He removed one of his cuffs, tossing it to Ruri. “You’re right Kaito, the dead cannot come back, because technically, we aren’t alive.” He closed his eyes as a single word passed through his lips, ‘Bariaphose’.

His form flickered and wavered and there was a flash from the stones on his cuffs and in an instant he and Ruri stood before them in their Barian forms.

“We’re Barians.”

 

“What are you?” repeated Masumi, wide eyed as she looked up at Yuzu.

Yuzu tilted her head, “What do you mean?”

“Look at yourself!” screeched Masumi, holding her hands out and gesturing to Yuzu. “You’re, I don’t know what you are?”

For the first time Yuzu looked down at herself, her eyes widening at what she saw. “Oh no.”

“You didn’t know?”

“I transformed, how did that happen?” She took a deep breath, composing herself slowly as her form flashed, retuning back to normal. “There that’s better.”

“What are you?” Masumi asked again, expression flickering somewhere between fear and horror.

“I’m…it’s a long story and I don’t know how to explain without sounding crazy.”

Masumi snorted, “After what I just saw, I’ll believe anything if it explains why you looked like, that.”

“I’ll try,” said Yuzu. “But I’m only explaining once.”

 

Sawatari was the first person to speak up, looking between Yuto, Ruri and Shun for an explanation. “What on earth is a Barian?” he asked. “Why do you look like that?”

Yuto turned to face him and Sawatari leapt back, Yuto had no mouth, instead the area was covered by what looked like some kind of mask.

“A children’s fairy tale, or so I thought,” said Kaito. “The reborn souls of the dead.”

“This is no fairy tale Kaito,” said Yuto. “This is very real I’m afraid. And we aren’t the only ones like this. Our counterparts in the other dimensions are also Barians.” There was a flash as he turned back and Sawatari squinted, finally getting his fist clear look at Yuto. “You know, you look like Yuya, and those two guys who showed up during the Battle Royal.”

“Yugo and Yuri,” clarified Ruri.

“How many lookalikes of Yuya are there?” asked Sawatari.

Yuto sighed, “Just the four of us, as I said, our counterparts in the other dimensions make up the 8 Barian Lords.”

“Wait-wait-wait, you said Barians are people who died right? And you said your counterparts are Barians too, which means Yuya is one, right?”

Yuto nodded, “That’s right.”

“But, but that would mean that he…” Sawatari trailed off, as his face grew pale. “No, no that can’t be right. He couldn’t have died; I’ve seen him, I visited him in the hospital and he was alive. He-he was in bad shape sure but he wasn’t dead. I mean I know he said he died but like, I thought he meant for like a minute before the doctors brought him back. Not like, actually dead.” He trembled, backing into Gongenzaka, “Oh god what have I done? I really did kill him, no, not just him, Yuzu too!”

Gongenzaka’s hands came down on his shoulders and Sawatari looked up at him, “Yuya forgave you, Yuzu too, don’t forget that.”

Yuto turned to Shun, his face hard. “Shun, we have a bigger problem on our hands. Standard was attacked.”

“What?” several voices shouted in unison.

“Academia attacked Standard.”

“When you mean attacked you don’t mean like….” Sawatari trailed off.

“I mean, if what Yuya said is accurate, Standard probably looks a lot like Heartland right now.”

Sawatari trembled, breath catching in his throat. “No, that can’t be.”

“From what Yuya said, it sounds like the work of the Tyler sisters.”

Kaito swore under his breath, “That’s why I haven’t seen them for the last few days.”

“Sawatari!” Gongenzaka cried out suddenly.

There was a soft thump as Sawatari dropped to his knees. “No, that can’t be right. Tell me this is a joke! Tell me you’re lying!”

Yuto shook his head, “I wish I were, but I doubt Yuya would lie about this, all things considered. They got someone close to him after all.”

Sawatari covered his mouth, shoulders trembling as he sat on the ground, head bowed so his face was hidden. “I think I’m gonna be sick.”

Kaito sighed, lowering his arm as he turned away. “I have nothing more to do with you people. Orbital, let’s go.”

“Of course, Kaito-sama!” warbled the robot that was currently serving as his jetpack and glider.

“Kaito wait, we could use your help,” called Shun.

“I will not work with, them.” He pointed at Ruri and Yuto. “I don’t care what they are or who they are.” There was a click as the mechanical wings on Kaito’s pack spread out.

Shun moved towards him to stop him, to keep him from leaving, only to stop when Ruri grabbed his arm.

“Let him go Shun. It’s not worth it.”

He sighed; watching as Kaito took off, leaving the lot of them behind.

“Ahh, Sawatari!”

Shun spun around in time to see Sawatari taking off.

Amidst the commotion, Sawatari had taken the opportunity to slip past Gongenzaka and take off running through the ruins of Heartland.

“Crap, we can’t let him run off alone!” hissed Shun. “It’s dangerous. Even if the Tyler Sisters aren’t here, Academia still is. Split up and find him, before he gets hurt.”


	62. Xyz Arc part 14

Sawatari clenched his eyes shut as he ran, tears stinging the corner of his eyes and mixing with the rain. No, this couldn’t be right, Standard couldn’t have been attacked. Standard was his home, it was where his papa was, and if it had been attacked…

He shook his head, trying to banish the thoughts from his mind. He couldn’t think like that, his Papa was fine, someone was sure to have protected him. And Standard, it was fine too; it wasn’t nearly in as bad a shape as Yuto was making it out to be. It had to be.

His foot caught on a piece of debris and Sawatari yelled as he pitched forward and landed face first on the ground.

“This is so stupid, I should be back home I should be helping. What good am I here?” He hit the ground in frustration, slowly dragging himself to his knees; clothes now covered in cold, wet mud. “Damnnit, damnit all! I just want to go home.”

Lifting his head he looked around, finally taking time to look at where he was.

“Oh smooth move Shingo now you’re lost,” he grumbled as he pulled himself from his knees to his feet. He hadn’t been looking where he was running, he just wanted to get away before he freaked out and made a fool of himself in front of everyone. “Man, now how am I going to get back? Gahh, what a stupid thing to do!” He sighed, hands falling to his sides, “Well, I might as well try to find my way back, it can’t be to hard right?”

Five minutes later and Sawatari was rethinking his statement, pretty sure he’d walked in a circle at least twice.

“Ahh, this place is like a maze!”

“Who’s out there?”

Sawatari froze as an unfamiliar voice broke the silence around him. Someone else was there. He hoped they were friendly.

“Oi, hey!” called Sawatari, heading in the direction of the voice, a choice he would soon regret.

The speaker was a young man a few inches taller than him with short silver hair. His clothes were covered in a long robe, but it was quickly clear that he was not part of the Resistance. He was too clean, too free of injuries, and there was no red bandanna in sight. And his duel disk, it was shaped like a shield.

His blue eyes scanned Sawatari, coming to rest on the red fabric tied to his upper arm. Upon catching sight of the scarf his face turned into a mask of displeasure.

“So you’re a resistance rat,” he said, raising his arm, sword-shaped blade materializing.

Sawatari narrowed his eyes, raising his arm as well. “You must be Academia then. You know what, bring it! You attacked my home, and I’m ready for some payback!”

 

DUEL MODE: ENGAGED

ACTION FIELD: CROSS OVER

 

“I activate Wire Mesh-Chain Deathmatch!”

Sawatari looked up in surprise as a large cage fell over the field, trapping the pair.

“Oh, you really don’t want me to escape do you?” asked Sawatari.

The man scowled, “You’re part of the resistance, I can’t let you escape.”

Sawatari grinned, “Well, then let the Hyper Ultra Strong Duelist Sawatari Shingo show you why you shouldn’t mess with him. With my scale 2 Abyss Actor Pretty Heroine, and Scale 9 Twinkle Little Star I set the Pendulum Scale!”

“Pendulum?”

“It’s time to set the stage! I Pendulum Summon, take the stage, Abyss Actor-Devil Heel, and Abyss Actor-Wild Hope!”

Two monsters, one looked like a cowboy and the other looked like a large, slightly humanoid, blue-grey monstrosity, landed on the field, streaking out from the portal that had opened up between the Pendulum Scales.

“Alright! Now, I activate Abyss Script-Opening Ceremony! Since I control 2 Abyss Actors, I gain an additional 1000 Life Points!”

He grinned as his life points rose from 4000 to 5000. “Not a bad opening if I do say so myself.”

“You have more skill than the usual fare,” said the man. “And I’ve never heard of Pendulum Summoning before.”

Sawatari smirked, “That’s because I’m no Xyz duelist, I’m a duelist from Standard, and Pendulum summoning is our weapon.”

“Well, this is the end for you. I activate Fusion! Using the Dynamiteguy and Drillguy in my hand I Fusion Summon!”

 

_Hero drilling the bedrock of destiny, hero burning with the core of a sun._

_Now become one and reign in the pitch-black future!_

_Fusion Summon!_

_Come on!_

_Destiny HERO – Dystopiaguy_

 

Sawatari clenched his jaw; this clinched it, this guy really was Fusion after all. This could be bad.

A blue hero with a gold mask and a ‘D’ emblazoned on its face leapt to the field, punching the air in front of it.

“Now Dystopiaguy, attack Wild Hope! Dystopia Crush!”

The smaller monster screeched in fear as Dystopiaguy’s fist slammed into it, obliterating it in an instant.

“Because you destroyed Wild Hope, I can activate its effect, and add one Abyss Actor from my deck to my hand,” said Sawatari, making a show of adding a card to his hand. “And, I activate my Pretty Heroine’s Pendulum effect! Your Dystopiaguy is going to lose some attack points, 1200 attack points in fact, the same amount I took in damage!”

The adorable, witch-like monster giggled and waved her wand in the air, sprinkling Dystopiaguy in a shower of little bats and jack-o-lanterns.

“Because its attack was changed, I activate Dystopiaguy’s effect!”

The smile vanished from Sawatari’s face, that couldn’t possibly be good.

“I can target one monster on the field and destroy it, and I choose your Devil Heel! Noble Justice!”

Sawatari watched in horror as his remaining monster was blasted off the field, leaving him defenseless.

“Whoo, it’s a good thing I buffed up my life points,” said Sawatari, dusting himself off. “That could have really hurt. But now it’s time for the second act!” He leapt onto a platform for a higher vantage point.

“With my already set Pendulum scale I Pendulum Summon! Return from my Extra Deck for act two, Abyss Actor-Devil-Heel, and Abyss Actor-Wild Hope! And from my hand, grace the stage, Abyss Actor-Big Star!”

Three monsters alighted on the field, the newest of which gave a sweeping bow.

“And now that all the actors are assembled, let’s begin the show! I activate Big Star’s effect and add one Abyss Script to my hand, and I choose this one, Abyss Script-Abode of the Fire Dragon! And now I activate it and target my Devil Heel!” He pointed across the field at his opponent, “Now Devil Heel, attack his Dystopiaguy!”

The blue monster flexed its arms before charging the hero monster, destroying it instantly with a single punch.

Sawatari’s grin widened as he bounced from foot to foot. “And now, because my Devil Heel destroyed a monster while under the effect of Abode of the Fire Dragon, I can banish three cards from your extra deck!”

His opponent’s face twisted into a look of pure horror as cards were ejected from his Extra Deck.

“No Extra Deck, no fusion summoning no matter what you have in you hand. And now, Big Star, take your turn and attack him directly!”

With a dramatic flourish, the slender monster charged forward, striking with a well-aimed fist.

“And last but not least, Wild Hope, end this!”

Perhaps he was distracted or just too surprised by the return of two monsters he thought he’d destroyed, but Sawatari’s opponent offered no counter-attack, taking the full bunt of the final attack.

“Oh yes!” Sawatari pumped the air with his fist as he leapt, whooping happily. Unfortunately, he came down just as the action field, and by extent the platform he’d been standing on, vanished. He came down with a painful crash and almost curled up in pain. “Ok that was a mistake,” he groaned, heaving in pain. The ground may have been slick with mud and rain, but it was by no means soft.

“Commander Phoenix sir, we heard a commotion, is everything alight?”

Sawatari looked up in time to see several Academia students in blue uniforms come running onto the field.

“It is,” said the man Sawatari now realized was named Phoenix. “However it seems we still have some vermin to clean up.” He dusted himself off before starting towards a downed Sawatari, duel disk raised.

Sawatari’s eyes widened, he knew that pose, and he wasn’t going to stick around any longer.

“Oh look at the time, it’s time for me to gettheheckouttahere!” With newfound strength he leapt to his feet and took off running He didn’t even care where he went, as long as it was away from them.

Behind him he heard a shout of ‘after him’, which only spurred him to run faster.

He’d won the duel, they shouldn’t have had any right to go after him like that, but then again, Shun had said that Academia had mowed down innocent civilians during the invasion. If they would go after non-duelists, why should a win stop them?

‘ _I am not becoming a card today!_ ’ he thought, scrambling through the ruins and away from the voices.

His footing slipped and slid on the wet ground, the sudden downpour had drenched everything and made keeping a grip difficult.

Somewhere behind him, he could hear the telltale sounds of duel disks activating, not an encouraging noise.

Without looking behind him he quickly ducked into an old building for shelter, at least he could get out of the rain while running.

He hadn’t gotten far into the building when the ground vanished from under him. One moment he was running on solid ground, the next he took a step and found nothing under his foot. He barely had time to register the shift in terrain before gravity kicked in and he found himself falling with a very undignified scream.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t a clean drop; having stepped on a piece of weakened floor which gave out the moment he put his weight on it.

Wood splintered around him and he futilely clawed at the air as he fell. For a moment he managed to grab part of the foundation, only for his hand to slip off and send him falling backwards, and crashing into everything on the way down.

It wasn’t a long fall; he’d fallen farther in action duels before and been unhurt. Except in those cases he’d had a clean, controlled landing on relatively soft Solid Vision, not one full of wood and glass and bits of who knows what raining down on him and ready to cushion his fall.

He shrieked as he landed, a white-hot pain ripping through his side. It felt like something had bitten him and his hands instinctively went to the source of the pain to try and relieve it as he curled in on himself.

Damp was the first thing his pain addled mind registered and he nearly bit his tongue to hold back a cry of pain when he tried to move. Slowly he pulled one hand away, lifting it up just enough to see it as he lay among the debris in the basement. Even in the dingy light he could see that his fingers were stained red.

He tried to move again, he was not going to roll over and die in some filthy basement just became an inanimate object had seen fit to stab him. He got as far as onto his knees before the pain dropped him again and his vision blurred and flashed painfully.

“Damnnit, damnnit!” He cursed and swore, hands pressed tightly to his side as he lay on the ground.

Everything hurt and he could barely think though the pain. His head throbbed and pulsed and every little movement sent another wave of dizziness crashing over him.

“ _Is this really how I’m going to go? Done in by an old building?_ ” he wondered. “ _Damn, that’s kinda pathetic._ ”

Anger and frustration morphed into fear, no one even knew where he was; he’d just taken off running earlier without a word. They had no idea he’d been dueling, or that he now lay in the basement of an old building, bleeding out from a wound in his side. He trembled, what if they never found him? What if he died there?

Somewhere above he heard the sounds of heavy footsteps as the upper floors creaked and groaned. He tried to call out, it didn’t even matter whom it was anymore he just wanted someone to find him. All that came out however was a weak groan.

His eyes fluttered and the last thing he heard was a voice calling out, not that he could understand it, and then everything went dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally the fight was supposed to be none-resultant, Sawatari and Ed would exchange a few blows before an attack from Ed would knock Sawatari into the cage wall, injuring him to much to continue and he'd pass out just as Gongenzaka and co. came upon him(and they continued the duel).  
> Unfortunately, D-Heroes suck and Abyss Actors are bulky as all hell. And short of giving Sawatari some unnaturally bad luck, he kept wiping the floor with Ed after only a handful of turns. I could not drag the duel out at all.  
> So I finally went 'heck it' and gave him the win and rewrote the scene to make it work.


	63. Xyz Arc part 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Never fear, Sawatari is going to be alright. At least physically. 
> 
> Ed on the other hand, well he's gonna be getting the short end of the stick for a while haha.

The last thing Yuto expected to be doing was chasing down Sawatari though the ruins of Heartland, in the rain. But he was, tailing behind Shun and followed closely by Gongenzaka.

Losing sight of him was easy; the ruins were like a giant maze and Sawatari had a head start. Finding him again was the problem, especially before someone else did.

Unfortunately, someone else did find him, as the sounds of a duel reached his ears and he gabbed Shun by the arm, pulling him in the direction of the sound.

They arrived upon the duel, just in time to see Sawatari book it faster than any of them had ever seen him move, with thee Obelisk Blues hot on his tail, and Commander Ed Phoenix.

“Gongenzaka, you go after Sawatari, we’ll deal with these guys,” said Yuto, readying his duel disk as he joined Shun. He was just itching for a duel now.

Gongenzaka nodded, heading off in the direction he’d last seen Sawatari run.

Sawatari was, thankfully, not all that quiet, practically screaming as he ran, so when the screams suddenly stopped, Gongenzaka knew something was very wrong.

“Sawatari! Sawatari!” Gongenzaka called out for him as he made his way though, hoping Sawatari would respond.

Perhaps he’d run into one of the buildings, or remains of them, to hide and escape the rain. He called out again, voice booming like thunder.

The floorboards creaked underfoot as he walked into one of the buildings and he stopped lest they weaken and give way.

There was no way Sawatari was in that one he thought, the floor was weak and rotting and would give way with one wrong misstep.

Gongenzaka turned; ready to go explore another one, when he heard a faint groaning sound.

“Sawatari, is that you?”

He looked around, trying to figure out where the noise had come from. He couldn’t see anyone, or any obvious hiding places.

He came to a stop near the edge of a large hole in the floor, the wood crumbling away near his feet.

At the bottom of the hole was a lone figure, curled up on their side and surrounded by bits of debris.

“Sawatari! Hold on!” Kicking off his sandals he began to climb down, using the supports that would hold him like a ladder. Half way down he leapt off, landing on the floor with a thud.

Sawatari was in bad shape, one hand weakly clutching his side, blood tickling through his fingers and staining his uniform bight red, where it wasn’t coated in mud. His hair was matted with blood from where he’d hit his head in the fall.

“Sawatari, Sawatari can you hear me?”

His only response was a weak groan, sides heaving as he lay there.

Gongenzaka gulped, this was bad, Sawatari wasn’t going to be getting out under his own power, and he couldn’t go back the way he’d come, not carrying Sawatari.

“Now don’t move,” he said, carefully slipping his arms under Sawatari and lifting him up. “Now, let’s find a way out. If this is a basement, then there should be stairs.”

 

“You’re surrounded, so stop running!” shouted Shun as he and Yuto rounded in on Ed Phoenix.

They’d already taken out the Academia soldiers, and easily too, which only left one, Commander Ed Phoenix.

“You’re not going anywhere!” Yuto leapt from his perch, landing in font of Ed with a splash, while Shun came up from behind him. “So give it up.”

Ed clenched his teeth, duel disk flashing to life. “Then I’ll just take you both on,” he said, gaze flicking between them.

Suddenly he gave a strangled noise as his eyes widened in shock and he dropped to the ground, Shun leaping to catch him before he face planted into the mud.

“Yuto!” Shun shot Yuto a pointed look, the latter flexing his hand.

“What? We don’t have time to deal with this,” he said. “He can give us answers, and I don’t feel like interrogating him out here. It’s not safe.”

Shun sighed and reached up, tugging his scarf off with one hand. “Fine, but at least help me tie him up. “

They were just finishing tying his hands together, when a loud voice boomed out though the streets.

Turning, Shun saw Gongenzaka running towards him and for a moment fear rushed though him when he saw the blood staining his clothes, had Gongenzaka been hurt? Then he saw what he was carrying, or rather whom, and realized it wasn’t his blood, it was Sawatari’s.

There was a sizeable red spot growing along his side and spreading though Gongenzaka’s hand. Fresh bruises patterned Sawatari’s hands and arms and Shun was sure there were more that he couldn’t see, hidden by clothes and mud.

“What happened?” he asked. “They didn’t do that did they?” Memories of Yuto and Ruri’s cold, battered, unmoving bodies flashed through his mind and a chill unrelated to the rain ran through him.

Gongenzaka shook his head, “He fell though a floor, hit everything on the way down by the looks of it. But we need to get him help.”

Shun nodded, tying to calm himself, he wasn’t going to lose another comrade, not this time.

“Yuto, we need to get back to Allen and Sayaka so the can take us to the base, someone there should be able to help.” He gabbed Ed by the back of his jacket, having stripped him of his oversized cape, and slung him over his shoulder. “We’re bringing him with us.”

“We should blindfold him them,” suggested Yuto, undoing the scarf from his arm. “In case he wakes up, we can’t let him find out where the base is or how to get there.”

“Good idea.”

 

Sawatari drifted in and out of consciousness, voices occasionally permeating the fog that surrounded his head. He tried to speak but all he could manage was a gargled mumble.

Hands poked and prodded at him and voices swirled around his head, mixing into an unintelligible blur of sound.

He groaned slightly, eyes fluttering. Everything was sore and every little movement he made only made the soreness hurt worse.

His eyes opened jus long enough to catch a glimpse of red hair hovering over him before falling shut again.

At least until a stinging pain resonated though his face and his eyes snapped open with a resounding yelp.

“Oh good, he’s awake now,” said someone beside him.

“Did you just hit me?” he asked, raising a hand to touch his face. “Why’d ya hit me?”

“You’re finally awake, we can’t have you falling asleep,” said Allen, moving into Sawatari’s view.

“Why not?”

Allen rolled his eyes, arms folded over his chest. “Because you’re probably concussed from hitting your head. So no sleeping!”

Sawatari groaned, looking up at the ceiling, one arm draped over his forehead. “I hurt.”

“Yeah, well you fell like 10 feet though a floor. You’re lucky your big friend found you.”

“Big friend…oh, Gongenzaka. He found me?”

Sayaka, who had been standing quietly near by, nodded. “He carried you all the way back. You’re lucky, they said it looks worse than it really is.”

“I feel like I’ve been run over by a truck,” he groaned, closing his eyes.

SMACK

Sawatari yelped as Allen’s hand struck the side of his face.

“What’d you do that for?”

“No sleeping!”

“I wasn’t sleeping,” grumbled Sawatari, “I was just, resting my eyes.” He sighed, “So where is everyone?”

“Gongenzaka is getting washed up, and Shun and Yuto are, interrogating. We’re just keeping you company and making sure you don’t sleep. Don’t worry, Ruri will be taking over shortly.”

“So where are we? This doesn’t look as beat up as the school.”

Allen grinned, “That’s because it’s not. This is where we’ve been staying. Welcome to the former Duel Lodge.”

 

Shun was none to gentle as he tossed Ed onto the floor, hands bound tightly in his lap. Couching down, he grabbed the blindfold and pulled it off. Ed squinted, momentarily blinded by the sudden light in his face.

“Now start talking,” he growled. “We need answers and you’re going to give them.”

“Oh, now you want me to talk, earlier you wanted me to shut up.” he said, hands in his lap.

He’d come round before they reached their destination and had started complaining, loudly. Some thinly veiled threats from Shun brought his silence back, they didn’t need him giving their location away to Academia, should they be anywhere near by.

Shun ignored him and continued, “Standard dimension, it was attacked, why?”

Ed paused, a surprised look flickering across his face, clearly that was not the question he’d expected to hear.

“I’m not sure why that matters to you,” he said with a shrug. “You have more to worry about here don’t you?”

“Why was Standard attacked?” repeated Shun.

Ed shrugged again, “It shouldn’t matter should it? It’s not your dimension, why does it matter what happens to it? It doesn’t affect you.”

“It matters to me!” The door, slammed open as Sawatari stumbled in, Allen and Sayaka yelling from somewhere down the hall. One arm held his side in pain and it was clear it was taking everything he had to keep on his feet.

“Sawatari, you should be resting!”

“Standard is my home you bastard,” snapped Sawatari, pushing past Shun, Yuto and Gongenzaka and grabbing Ed by the collar. “And you destroyed it, so it matters to me why it was attacked! So tell us why!”

Shun hadn’t noticed Sawatari’s free hand pulling back until a loud crack filled the air, the Standard duelist’s fist connecting with Ed’s nose.

“Sawatari!”

He wound up for another swing, only to find himself yanked back by several pairs of hands.

“Let me go, let me go!” Sawatari squirmed and thrashed, but Shun and Gongenzaka’s combined strength held him in place.

“Sawatari stop, this won’t accomplish anything,” said Shun. “And you need to rest, you’re in no shape to be up. Not with your injuries. You’ll only make them worse if you tear your stitches.”

Sawatari trembled, going slack in their arms as he bowed his head, angry tears rolling down his cheeks and splashing onto the dirty floor. He bit back a cry of pain as he shifted in their arms, his side protesting in agony.

“I have to know, I have to know why they did it. Why did they attack my home?”

As Sawatari was dragged back, Ed bought his hands up to his face, gingery touching his stinging nose; there had been quite a bit of force in that punch considering his attacker was sill delirious from a head wound. Pulling his hand back he was startled to see it had come away red.

Sawatari had bloodied his nose with a single punch, and he’d been ready to go for another punch had he not been stopped.

“Gongenzaka, get Sawatari out of here, Yuto and I will work on getting answers. And you two,” his gaze flicked back to the door, where Allen and Sayaka stood, nearly breathless.

“We’re sorry,” said Allen. “He just escaped before we could stop him. We told him what was going on and where you were and he just left.”

“Just…keep a better eye on him from now on, alright?”

Sawatari shuddered as Gongenzaka led him from the room, one hand on his back.

“Sawatari, you need to calm down,” said Gongenzaka, helping him to sit down.

“You, you don’t understand!” snapped Sawatari. “Your old man’s a duelist, he can protect himself. But papa…” he trailed off and sobbed, putting his head in his hands. “He’s just a politician, he was never into it, he barely knows the rules. He’d be defenseless. And Academia doesn’t care if you’re a duelist or not.” His shoulders trembled and shook with each anguished sob. “And there’s nothing I can do. And no way to know if he’s ok or not.”

A large hand came to rest on his shoulder and he looked up at Gongenzaka, who offered him a comforting smile. “I’m sure he’s fine. There are plenty of strong duelists back home. I’m sure someone is keeping him safe.”

“Do you really think so?” asked Sawatari with a sniff.

Truthfully, he had no idea any more and Sawatari did, but Gongenzaka nodded.

“Come on, let’s get you back to bed.”

 

Shun sighed, running a hand through his hair as he turned his attention to Ed. Now that Sawatari was gone, hopefully they could begin.

“Now, start talking. And just be glad we’re not Kaito.”


	64. Xyz Arc part 16

Sawatari groaned and hissed in pain as he was lead back to his room. Head wound be damned, it was his side that hurt the worst. He hadn’t been impaled like he’d thought; instead something sharp had caught his side on the way down, tearing at him like claws.

Luckily, as he learned, despite all the blood it wasn’t that deep or that serious, which was surprising given the amount of mud on him. The fact that it hadn’t gotten infected was a godsend. It was still bound up and Allen scolded him for running off and potentially reopening his injury and ruining the fresh clothes he’d been given.

“It’s Ruri’s turn to watch you, so try to behave for her at the very least,” said Allen, “We’ll bring you something to eat.”

Ruri was different from Allen and Sayaka, she wasn’t as loud as Allen, and she didn’t hit him every time he tried to nod off, she did however give him a sharp jab in the shoulder. And she wasn’t shy like Sayaka, who barely said a word.

“So is it true, did you really die?” asked Sawatari as he prodded at the bowl of what he hoped was stew that Allen had brought him.

Ruri sighed and nodded, “I’m afraid so. It happened so fast though I barely remember it. A split second of pain and then, nothing.”

He frowned, “And then you became a, Barian?”

She nodded again, “We all did, somehow.”

He felt his stomach twist up and what little appetite he had slipped away.

“So do all Barians look like you?” He asked. “Like, with the wings and the gems and the…no mouths.”

Ruri laughed, “No wings, at least not like mine, but the rest is true. Now you should eat before that gets cold. I can assure you it tastes much better hot.”

“What is it?” asked Sawatari, taking a spoonful.

“Stew.”

“Really?”

“No, but pretend it is. Food is hard to come by here so you, probably don’t want to know what’s in it.”

He looked down at the amorphous semi-solids in his bowl, it reminded him more of a porridge than a stew, and he was sure it wasn’t going to taste good.

“Well, bottoms up I guess,” he said with a grimace before taking a spoonful.

Ruri his a stifled laugh behind her hand as she watched him eat, Sawatari trying to look like he was enjoying it.

“It’s ok, you can say it,” she said as he set the spoon down with a shudder. “It doesn’t taste all that good does it?”

“It tastes like wet cardboard,” he said. “And I think the peas have seen better days.”

“Well, everything in it came from a can,” she said. “It’s all that we really have left that hasn’t gone bad.”

“So canned peas are just naturally that gross looking then?” he asked.

She sighed, “I’m afraid so.”

Sawatari clicked his tongue, “Damn.” He glanced up at Ruri, “So is that why you’re not eating? Cause I don’t blame you.”

She shook her head, “No, that’s not it. Barians…they don’t need to eat.”

His eyes widened, “You don’t need to eat, at all?”

“No. But you do.”

 

With Sawatari gone from the room, Ed was surprisingly more cooperative and talkative, even though he didn’t say much.

“I don’t know why the Professor sent them, he didn’t tell me,” he said. “That is something you would have to ask the Tyler Sisters.”

Shun exhaled heavily, arms folded over his chest as he paced around. The fact that he hadn’t punched Ed out yet surprised Yuto; there had been a time when that was exactly how Shun would have interrogated him. He was surprisingly restrained this time.

“They were under your command. And you’re telling me you let them go without know why?”

“It’s not up to me to question the Professor’s orders.”

“What does the Professor hope to achieve by invading dimensions?” asked Yuto, placing a hand on Shun’s shoulder and indicating for him to step back, it was his turn to talk. “You people have talked about creating a utopia. All you do is invade and slaughter, what utopia can you possibly build from that?” He grabbed Ed by the shoulder, pushing him against the wall, “And the people you turned into cards, what becomes of them?”

Ed grunted, wincing as his back was pushed into the wall.

“Is there a way to turn them back?”

“The professor said that everyone would be reborn in the new world. If he has anything else, it’s not something we have access too.”

Yuto ground his jaw, grip tightening on Ed’s shoulder. “And what about the dead? What about all of the innocent lives that were taken in your invasion? What happens to them?”

“What are you talking about?”

“The people who died. You didn’t just card people when you invaded us; you took innocent lives as well! So what about them? Because I doubt the Professor has the ability to bring back the dead, even in his ‘utopia’.”

“Yuto!”

Yuto jumped at the sound of Shun’s voice, his hand coming down on his shoulder lightly.

“Let go of him.”

His grip had gotten so tight that his knuckles had gone white and the fabric under his nails had begun to tear, digging into the skin of Ed’s shoulder so much it would surely bruise later.

“Take a breather, I’ll handle this.”

Yuto looked down at his hands, they were literally shaking so much that he couldn’t keep still.

“Yeah alright. I think I need some air anyways.”

Taking a step back he quickly whirled on his foot and slipped out of the room, leaving Shun to finish the interrogation.

He’d let his anger get the better of him, just like he had against Obelisk Force. He’d wanted to hurt Ed, to throw him against the wall to finish what Sawatari had started, to make him hurt just like they had been hurt.

He shuddered at the thought as he pushed the door open and stepped outside ad into the rain. He’d managed to hold back but only just, if Shun hadn’t been there to stop him, well he didn’t want to dwell on that.

He turned his face skyward and felt hot tears roll down his face, mixing with the cool rain. This had to stop, all the fighting and all the pain, it just couldn’t be allowed to continue.

Tightening his fists he cried out in anger and frustration.

“Do you feel better now?” asked Shun, leaning against the doorway, arms folded over his chest.

“It helped,” said Yuto. “How long have you been there? I thought you were, interrogating.”

“I finished, I left him in Gongenzaka’s care, he’s not about to go anywhere anytime soon.”

Yuto tilted his head as he glanced back at Shun who shook his head, “No, not like that,” snorted Shun. “I just don’t expect him to try and run away from Gongenzaka.”

Yuto nodded, “Good. I was going to say you’re being hypocritical by using force after getting on me.”

Shun let his arms fall to his side as he stepped away from the door, joining Yuto in the rain.

“What happened in there?” he asked, placing a hand on his shoulder. “You aren’t the sort of person who lets their emotions take control like that.

“I know,” said Yuto with a sigh. “It happened with Yuya too, against Obelisk Force.” He shook his head, choking back on his voice, “Why is this happening to me? It’s like I’m falling apart.”

“It’s a stressful time for everyone, maybe you shouldn’t have come back here,” said Shun. “Why did you come?”

“Ruri and I have something we need to do here,” said Yuto, rain dripping off the ends of his hair. “But, I think we’ll leave when we’re done. There’s to many bad memories here, it hurts just being back.”

Shun looked up at the dark sky, the rain falling against his face like tears. “I know, but we can only hope things will get better.” He glanced back at Yuto and gave his shoulder a playful smack, “Now, let’s get back inside before we catch a cold out here.”

Yuto laughed, “I’m not even sure I can catch a cold.”

“Do you want to find out?”

 

Rin pressed a hand to the crystal that held Yugo, his form still unmoving inside.

“Oh Yugo, it’s like everything is going mad out here. I wish you would wake up.”

Though the crystal she could still see the wounds on his body, the bruising and the cuts.

“They’ve attacked Standard now Yugo, Yuya said it was in ruins.” She closed her eyes, “It was so beautiful. I wanted to stay there when this was all over.” Her nails scraped over the crystal as tears began to trickle from her eyes. “Even if we make it out of this alive, even if we stop the war, what do we do then? Where do we go then?”

She shuddered, pressing her head against the crystal. “I feel so helpless Yugo. Yuzu’s in Standard, Ruri’s back in Heartland with Yuto and Selena’s with Yuri. But what can I do?”

“Rin!” Yuya called out as he ran into the room, chest heaving.

“Yuya?” She looked up, startled by his sudden appearance. “Is something wrong?”

“It’s-do you know where Yuri is? I need to talk to him. It’s important.”

“I think he’s with Selena, I heard them talking about memories or something. Why has something happened?” she asked.

“We were wrong about the crystals Rin,” he said. “We thought they were something connecting the dimensions together. But they’re not.”

“They’re not, then what are they?”

Yuya shook his head, “I don’t know, maybe an after effect of us dying and being reborn here? They’re connected to this dimension sure, but they’re not, important, not like we thought anyways. They’re not the nexus points we should have been looking for, the ones that need to be protected.” He caught her shoulders suddenly, earning a startled yelp in the process. “We are Rin, we’re what’s connecting the dimensions!”

“Y-Yuya you’re not making any sense, what do you mean that we’re the nexus points?”

“It’s hard to explain, and I don’t want to have to repeat myself so I want to tell everyone at once, so I need to find Yuri.” He smacked himself in the forehead; “Argh, Yuto and Ruri are in the Xyz dimension and Yugo’s still healing. This is going to be harder than I thought.”

“Is there anything I can do Yuya?”

His eyes lit up and he nodded, “Yes, can you try and get in contact with Yuto and Ruri and see if they can come back?” he asked. “I’ll go find Yuri and Selena and try to get in touch with Yuzu.”

“Of course, I can do that, but what about Yugo? He’s still like this.” She gestured to the crystal he was encased in, eyes shut as if he were only asleep.

“He’ll be alright,” said Yuya. “I’m sure of it, and we can explain everything to him once he wakes up.” He placed a hand on her shoulder and gave her a soft look. “I promise, he’s going to be fine. Now, where did you see Yuri and Selena last?”


	65. Xyz Arc part 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slowly winding down this arc~

“Leaving now, are you sure?” asked Ruri.

Yuto nodded, leaning against the doorway. “I just want to get this over with. And I think Sawatari can take care of himself for a bit.”

“At least let me tell Allen or Sayaka so someone can cover for me while I’m gone,” said Ruri as she stood up, smoothing her clothes out. She looked back at Sawatari and offered a sympathetic smile, “I’m sorry, but this is something I have to do.”

He just nodded and waved her off, “Yeah, yeah, besides it’s probably more interesting than babysitting me.”

Sawatari watched as the pair walked off, Ruri keeping close to Yuto’s side, the tips of their fingers interlocking ever so subtly.

 

Yuto stopped at the doorway to the Duel Lodge, rain dripping down from the eves above. “Are you ready?” he asked, looking back at Ruri.

“I am, Allen said he’d take over watching Sawatari for me.”

Yuto nodded. “At least with this rain we should have an easier time avoiding Academia. They wouldn’t be out in this.”

“Especially if it gets harder,” said Ruri as she looked up at the darkening sky. “It might even start storming.”

“Good, we might need to make use of the thunder claps. If the crystals are buried, we might have our work cut out.”

 

Allen may have been the one originally keeping an eye on Sawatari, but the job quickly shifted onto Shun the moment he walked into the room.

“Good timing, I’m going for break and to find Sayaka,” he said, bolting before Shun could stop him.

Sawatari laughed, “Looks like it’s your turn to be stuck with me. Of course, I keep trying to tell everyone that I am fine, I don’t need a babysitter.” He sighed. “‘ _You hit your head Shingo, we need to keep an eye on you,_ ’” he said in a mocking tone. “But I feel fine.”

“Sawatari, you fell almost 10 feet straight down, hit your head and tore your side open,” said Shun, pressing a finger against Sawatari’s forehead. “On top of that you were passed out for a while and lost a lot of blood. You are staying right here. The last thing we need is you reopening your injuries or passing out on us.”

Sawatari huffed, arms folded over his chest. “I don’t like it, I feel useless.”

“Better that than dead. We’ll need your strength later.”

Sawatari sighed, flopping back against his pillow as he looked up at the ceiling. “Boring.”

“Get used to it,” said Shun, picking up the empty bowl.

“Oi, Kurosaki?” he asked, tilting his head to look at him as he headed to the door.

“Hm?”

“Are Yuto and Ruri dating?”

Shun froze, nearly dropping the bowl in his hands. “Are they-what?” he sputtered. “Where did you get that idea?”

Sawatari shrugged, “They just seemed really close, and when they left they were holding hands. I just assumed they were a couple. Was I wrong?”

 

Yuto took a deep breath as he stared at the building before him. The wall facing them had been blown to pieces and collapsed, the rubble piled in a large heap in the middle of the road.

“This is the place,” he said. “I could never forget it.”

“Me neither,” said Ruri.

“I thought you two might come here!”

Yuto’s breath caught in his throat, Kaito was there. “We don’t want to fight you!” he yelled, frantically looking around for him. “We’re not your enemy.”

“I will be the judge of that.”

There was a wet thump as he landed on the ground, the mechanical wings folding up.

“This place, what meaning does it hold for you?” he asked, gesturing to the rubble around them. “After all you had to come here for a reason.”

“This is where we died when Academia attacked,” said Yuto. “It’s hard to forget having half a building sitting on you, and all you can do is watch your friend die only feet away. Now, what do you want Kaito?”

“Why are you here? Why did you return to this dimension?”

“That’s our business and ours alone. Now step aside.”

“If you’re really not from Academia then explain yourselves,” said Kaito, arms folded over his chest. “Barians, that’s what you said you were, so why come back here?”

“We had to,” said Ruri. “There’s something we have to find before Academia does.”

“Find?”

“Crystals, from the Barian world,” explained Yuto. “For some reason they appeared where we all died. Unfortunately Academia knows about them and wants them. I don’t know why, but it can’t be good. And if it affects the Barian world, it affects us too.”

“So you have to get to them first?”

Yuto nodded, “Yes. I was worried Academia might have gotten to the ones in this dimension already. But it looks like they’re probably buried.” He pointed to the pile of debris. “No one’s getting through that easily.”

“And after we’re done we’re leaving,” said Ruri. “We’re going to go back to the Barian world, so please, let us do this.”

“I just have one question,” said Kaito. “The Barian world is a world of the dead. Did you…did you see them there?”

“Them…Oh.” Yuto trailed off awkwardly and grabbed his arm as he looked down. “No, they weren’t there Kaito. I’m sorry.”

Them, Yuto knew who Kaito was talking about, his family, specifically his father and little brother, both of which had vanished during an attack on one of their bases. The two main theories were that they were either dead or carded, though neither a card nor a body had yet been found.

“Don’t be,” he said with a sigh. “It means they aren’t dead, I can still save them. Wherever they are.”

“That’s one way to look at it I suppose,” said Yuto. “I hope you find them.” He sighed, “And no, I don’t know why only we came back, why we were reborn. I wish I did, but I don’t.”

“None of us know,” said Ruri.

Kaito looked at them, then back at the rubble heap. “You said what you were looking for was under there?”

“Probably, but we can’t know until we move it,” said Yuto.

“Right.” Kaito nodded. “Orbital, get ready to help.”

There was a click and a whirr as the jetpack detached itself from Kaito’s back, reforming into the familiar white robot.

“Kaito-sama are you sure?” it asked.

He nodded, “You’re the only thing that can move all this.”

“And if you see any crystals try not to damage them,” said Yuto.

“I don’t take orders from the likes of you!” huffed Orbital, wheeling over so it was in Yuto’s face, jabbing a finger in his direction.

“Orbital, behave and get to work.”

“Yes Kaito-sama!” It gave a quick salute before trundling over to the rocks to work.

Orbital hadn’t been working long when Ruri’s duel disk beeped softly the screen flashing.

“That’s strange, someone’s calling me,” she said, lifting her arm up. “Hello?” She tapped a button on the screen and a familiar face flashed into view. “Rin! This is a surprise.”

“Ruri! Oh thank goodness, I was worried I might not be able to get hold of you.”

“Is something wrong Rin?” she asked.

The Barian girl ran a hand through her hair, “I don’t know. Yuya asked me to get hold of you and Yuto, said it was important. He’s looking for Selena and Yuri now.”

Kaito glanced over, the sound of the conversation catching his attention. “Yuya?”

“Sakaki Yuya, he’s a friend from the Standard Dimension.”

“Sakaki?”

“Are you able to come back?” asked Rin. “Yuya said it was important, and it sounded urgent.”

“We’re still in the middle of looking for the Baria Crystals,” she said. “Can it wait?”

“Wait did you say Sakaki?” asked Kaito, grabbing Ruri and spinning her around so she was facing him.

“Kaito!” Ruri yelped in shock.

“Why do you know that name?” he asked.

“It’s Yuya’s name, why, have you heard it before?”

Kaito paused for a moment, releasing Ruri from his grip. “Before the invasion, there was a man who was teaching duel at the Clover Branch, but he vanished shortly after the war started.” He frowned, “His name was Sakaki Yusho.”

For a moment there was nothing but the sound of driving rain and the grunting and thumping of Orbital digging though the rubble. Then, a voice spoke from the other end of Ruri’s duel disk, not Rin’s voice but a male voice.

“Why was my father was in Heartland?”

 

Rin froze when she head Yuya’s voice from behind her, blood freezing in her veins. Her conversation had been interrupted by someone on Ruri’s end, someone named Kaito by the sounds of it, and Yuya had walked in at the worst possible time.

“Yuya!” She spun around to face him, eyes wide. “Oh, you heard all that.”

“Who is that, how does he know my father? Why was he in Heartland?” asked Yuya, pace quickening as he walked towards her.

“Yuya please, calm down!” sputtered Rin. “It’s Ruri and a friend, I think.”

“My dad, is he alive?” asked Yuya.

“I don’t know,” came the voice on the other end. “He ran away when the war started and no one’s seen him since.”

“Yuya, have you spoken to Yuzu yet?” asked Rin, placing a hand on his shoulder. If she could distract him with something else she could keep him from getting too riled up.

He shook his head, “No, I just finished talking with Yuri and Selena.”

Rin’s eyes softened and she gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze. “Why don’t you try to get hold of her, let me take care of this situation, ok? I’m sure she’d like to hear your voice.”

For a moment Yuya looked like he was going to argue back, then he sighed, shoulders slumping slightly, “Alright.”

Rin nodded and turned back to Ruri, who’d managed to slip away from Kaito, dragging Yuto with her. “I’m sorry, Yuya just walked in,” said Rin. “I think I got him calmed down.”

“We’re almost done here,” said Yuto, “We’ll come back when we finish, will that be alright?”

Rin nodded, “It will be, we still have to get Yuzu back.” She sighed, watching as he disk went dark, the call ended. With that over she turned to Yuya, who had seated himself on the floor. “Yuya, are you ok?”

“I’ll be fine,” he said. “I’m just surprised. My dad was in Heartland! I just don’t understand why would he be there. How would he even know about other dimensions?”

Rin shook her head, “I don’t know Yuya, I really don’t know. But I’m sure you’ll find out.”

“I hope so,” he said, leaning against the wall. “It’s been 3 years since he just vanished. But I never would have thought he would have been in another dimension. I wonder what happened, where he is now.” He looked at his duel disk, it was probably time to talk to Yuzu, and he was beginning to miss her too.

 

Yuzu sighed, picking up the damp cloth and wiping off her face. Gloria and Grace had escaped during the commotion after the battle, which meant that they couldn’t question them. Hopefully it meant that they would back off, at least for a time.

“Yuzu!”

“Masumi?”

She looked up to see Masumi looking in the door at her. At least she was actually looking at her now. After Yuzu had explained, or done her best to, about the Barians, Masumi had trouble meeting her gaze, or even looking at her. She barely seemed to believe the story, not that Yuzu blamed her, as it did sound outrageous.

“Is everything alright?” asked Yuzu.

“Ah yes, everything’s fine. What about you? Are you ok?”

Yuzu nodded, “I’ll be fine.”

Masumi relaxed, shoulders falling with a sigh. “You did good out there,” she said. “Saved my ass, so thanks for that.”

“Well I couldn’t just let you lose out there,” said Yuzu. “There are people here who need you for one thing. And another, you were my partner, that’s what they do.”

“Well I‘m glad you were there, I probably wouldn’t be here right now otherwise.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a card, handing it to Yuzu. “Here, I want you to have this.”

Yuzu took the cad from her curiously, turning it over. “Crystal Rose? But why Masumi?”

“I think it might come in handy for you. So don’t lose got it?”

Yuzu smiled, “I won’t.”

Yuzu’ duel disk flashed to light, beeping softly, the screen lighting up.

“Yuya? I wonder what he wants?”

 

Yuto stepped back, looking at the cluster of crystals the Orbital had unearthed from the debris field. These were definitely the Baria crystals they had been looking for, though they leaned more towards a purple colour than the ones he’d seen in the Barian world.

“What are these?” asked Kaito with a frown.

“Kaito-sama, the energy readings from these crystals! They’re off the charts, I’ve never seen anything like this before!” screeched Orbital.

“They’re Baria crystals,” said Yuto, reaching a hand out to touch them. “I’m not sure why they appeared, residual energy I suppose, but they did. Where we all fell.”

Kaito was quiet for a moment, “You said you had counterparts in all the dimensions correct, and that all of you were Barians?”

Yuto nodded, “That’s right.”

Kaito drew his lips into a tight line, “Then, if these appeared where you all fell, and you have a counterpart from the Fusion dimension…”

He trailed off as he looked to Yuto, whose face paled as the realization dawned on him.

“Oh no.”

“What is it?” asked Ruri.

“I wondered how it was Academia got into the Barian world in the first place. I never considered they would have gotten their hands on this power. Ruri, we need to get back and warn the others. Who knows what Academia could do Baria crystals in their hands.”


	66. Xyz Arc part 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Yuri is both sass and a terrifying force.

Yuya paced around, wringing his hands nervously, how on earth was he going to explain all of this to them, about Zarc and Ray, about the original dimension. It sounded so out there he was sure they’d think he was crazy.

“Yuya you’re going to wear a rut in the floor,” sighed Yuri. “You called us all here so talk.”

“Promise you won’t think I’m crazy?”

They exchanged curious looks. “After everything we’ve seen and been through, what could be crazier?” asked Selena, arms folded over her chest.

Yuya sighed, “Here goes.”

 

Yuya tried to read their expressions as he spoke, to figure out if they believed him or not. It was an unbelievable story; a single dimension split four ways with two gods and four dragons at the heart of it all.

“It certainly explains why the Professor would be after them,” said Yuri, gesturing to Selena. “But, do you really think he knows about all of that?”

“I don’t know,” said Yuya. “Maybe, or maybe he only knows about part of it, like a legend or a story.”

“And we’re dragons?” asked Yuto.

“Sort of. At least, their reincarnations I guess,” said Yuya with a nod.

Ruri tugged Yuto’s arm and whispered something to him.

“Yuya, when we were in Heartland, something occurred to us. We have reason to believe that Academia has gotten their hands on Baria crystals.”

“Are you sure?” asked Yuzu. “How? How could they have gotten them?”

He looked towards Yuri, “You died in the Fusion dimension right?”

Yuri nodded, “Yes, on Duel Academy Island.” He sighed, “Damn, you’re right.”

Yuto nodded, “Exactly, I bet it’s how they got here in the first place, they used the crystals to force their way in.”

Yuya shivered, “I guess that’s why it hurt.”

“Probably.”

Yuya sighed, hands tightening at his side. “We can’t keep sitting on the sidelines any longer. I say it’s time we took the fight to the Professor and end this once and for all!”

Yuzu nodded, “I don’t want anyone else to get hurt, no more Heartlands, no more Miami Cities. This needs to stop.”

“I’m in,” said Yuto, before looking over to Ruri who nodded. “Someone needs to make him pay.”

“We’re in, right?” asked Yuri, looking to Selena.

She nodded, “They messed with our heads and lied to us. They need to be stopped.”

“I’m sure Yugo would be in but,” Rin tailed of, looking over at the crystal that contained Yugo.

“We’ll fill him in when he wakes up,” said Yuya, placing a hand against the smooth surface of the crystal.

“I hope it’s soon.”

“We’re going to need all the help we can get for this,” said Yuto. “I think I should go back to Heartland, to get Shun and the rest.”

“I’ll stay here until Yugo wakes up,” said Yuya, “To fill him in on what we’re doing and what’s going on.”

“Me too,” said Rin with a nod. “I’m not leaving Yugo.”

“I’m staying behind too,” said Ruri.

“Well if you’re going to be dragging bunch of Xyz duelists into the Fusion dimension you’re going to need someone who actually knows their way around that dimension,” said Yuri. “Unless you want to get lost and in trouble.”

“Are you volunteering?” asked Yuto.

Yuri was quiet for a moment before shrugging, “I suppose.” He glanced over to Selena, “Can you take care of this lot? Someone’s going to need to get them to the Fusion dimension and make sure they don’t get lost. And you’re the only other Fusion user here.”

Selena nodded, “I’ll be fine, I promise.”

Yuri nodded before looking to Yuya and Yuzu, “Her memories are coming back, and it might not be pleasant. It wasn’t for me.”

‘Then it’s settled, “ said Yuya. “Yuto, Yuri, you’ll head to Heartland to gather allies while the rest of us wait for Yugo to wake. We’ll all head to the Fusion dimension and hopefully meet there.”

They each nodded in agreement.

“Good, it’s time we put an end to this once and for all.”

 

“It’s no use,” sighed Shun, lowering his arm. “The dimensional teleportation function has been short circuited somehow.”

“You don’t suppose it happened when all those portals opened up back in the Synchro dimension and we got dropped here?” asked Sawatari.

“It’s possible,” sighed Shun. “But it means we’re stuck here.”

Gongenzaka sighed, “And when we’re so close to getting to the Fusion dimension too.”

“That means we can’t even go home either!” sputtered Sawatari, flinching when Allen flicked the side of his head and hissed something that sounded like ‘stop moving’.

“Seems like they’re one step ahead of us Yuto,” drawled a voice from outside the room. “Already planning on leaving, though it sounds like you have a bit of a problem.”

All heads turned to the sound of the voice as Yuri strode into the doorway, Yuto following close behind, shaking his head with a sigh.

“You are going to bring your own death on yourself,” said Yuto.

Sayaka squealed, dropping the bandages she was holding out for Allen.

“Sayaka what’s wrong?” asked Allen.

“He-he-he’s Fusion! I saw him, during the invasion!” she squeaked.

All heads in the room turned to focus on Yuri and Yuto sighed, putting his face in his hand.

“Yuto, what’s going on?” asked Shun. “I thought he was supposed to be an ally?”

“He is,” he sighed, dragging his hand down his face. “It’s a long story.”

“Not really.”

“Open your mouth to say anything and I will hit you.”

“Why, they clearly want answers.”

Yuto groaned, “He’s Fusion, but he’s an ally, you’ll have to trust me on this.”

“Hey, I remember you!” said Sawatari, pointing at Yuri. “You were in the Maiami championship! You were with Yuya’s other look-alike though.”

Yuri nodded, “That was me yes.”

“Yeah, you were fighting those Academia guys.”

Allen scowled, “Why would he be doing that? He’s one of them!”

“Let’s just say I have a bad history with Obelisk Force and leave it at that. We don’t get along.”

“What are you doing here?” asked Shun, “I thought you left.”

“We need allies, as many as we can get,” said Yuto. “We’re tired of sitting around, we’re taking the fight to Academia.”

“And what about him?” asked Allen, gesturing to Yuri.

“Well you need someone to keep you from getting lost,” said Yuri with a smirk. “And it sounds like you’re going to need help getting there too.”

“And you can do that?” asked Sawatari, standing up before Allen pulled him back down, trying to finish wrapping his side.

“I heard you managed to catch Commander Ed Phoenix. Why don’t you ask him, after all, he had to get here somehow. He and his troops.”

Shun narrowed his eyes, “Are you sayin he has a way to cross dimensions?”

“I’m saying he has a way to move large amounts of people across dimensions easily. Academia probably has a base somewhere, and a transporter there.” Yuri shifted his stance, folding his arms over his chest. “I’m sure Mr. Phoenix knows exactly where the base is.”

“Only problem with that is, he’s not talking,” said Gongenzaka with a sigh.

“Oh?”

“He clammed up,” said Shun. “And short of actually beating him up, I don’t think he’s going to say much.”

“You could let me have another crack at him,” said Sawatari with a grin as he grabbed his shirt, tugging it on over his head.

“So you still have him?” asked Yuri.

Shun nodded and Yuri grinned, arms falling to his sides. “Give me five minutes with him.” Shun cocked an eyebrow and Yuri quickly added, “I won’t touch him, but I’ll get you your information.”

“Yuri, what are you planning on doing?”

 

“Are you sure we can really trust him?” asked Allen. “I mean, he’s Fusion. He’s one of them? What’s to say he won’t lead us into a trap?”

“I trust him,” said Yuto. “He’s been a help to us. And Ruri trusts him too.”

“Allen, I want you and Sayaka to stay behind,” said Shun.

“We want to fight!”

“You’re staying behind, the both of you.”

“What?”

“It’s too dangerous, I’m not dragging you into the heart of enemy territory. You’re staying here.”

“But–”

“No Allen! I’m not-I won’t lose anyone else,” he said, placing a hand on his head. “Besides, you’re more help to the people here.”

Allen looked down, shoulders hunched.

He opened his mouth to start speaking, but stopped as the door opened and Yuri strode into the room.

“Good news, I know where their base is,” he said, a satisfied smirk on his face. “And better news, Commander Phoenix here has oh so graciously agreed to take us there too.”

 

“Yuri, what did you do to him?” asked Yuto.

They had been skeptical at first when Yuri had said that Ed would take them to the base, after all why would he do that?

But sure enough, he was doing exactly that, albeit nervously and every few moments he would glance over at Yuri, watching him from the corner of his eye.

“Nothing,” replied Yuri. “Just like I said, I never touched him. I might have frightened him a bit, but I never laid a hand on him.” He gestured to Ed, his hands bound in font of him as he walked, Shun and Gongenzaka keeping close to him. “Does he look roughed up to you?”

“No he looks terrified,” said Yuto.

Yuri grinned, “Exactly.”

 

_Ed looked up at the sound of the door opening and did a double take as Yuri walked in. There was no mistaking him for anyone else, the way he walked, that uniform, it was definitely Yuri, one of Fusion’s top duelists._

_“Well this must be embarrassing for you, Commander Ed Phoenix got himself caught by a handful of Xyz rebels.”_

_Ed scowled, “Stop mocking me,” he growled, holding up his hands, which were bound up with rope, and none to gently at that._

_“Oh, did you think I was here to rescue you?” asked Yuri, crouching down in front of him._

_“Obviously, why else would you be here?”_

_The grin on Yuri’s face morphed into something predatory. “Oh you have it wrong, I’m here to interrogate you. I hold no love for Academia you see, not anymore.” Ed shivered, back pressed into the wall as Yuri knelt in font of him, inches from his face, hand resting on the wall beside his head. “Now, you know where Academia’s base is, and you’re going to tell me how to find it. And you’re not going to lie.” As he spoke his form flickered, replaced by some kind of scarred, mouthless, winged monster. “Because I’m going to know if you lie to me. I might be on the side of the angels, but don’t think for a moment I’m one of them.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I could not resist the final line, I'm ~~not~~ sorry.


	67. Xyz Arc part 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter of the Xyz Arc!
> 
> Next week is the Interlude, then a several week break!
> 
> More information on the break [here!](http://authoratmidnight.tumblr.com/post/162222691935/important-update-regarding-a-different-kind-of)

Yuto wasn’t sure what Yuri had done to Ed, and frankly he wasn’t sure he wanted to know, but it had worked. Although quiet, and shooting Yuri nervous glances, he led them through the ruins of Heartland with very little prodding.

“And you’re sure he’s leading us the right way?” asked Shun.

“Oh absolutely,” said Yuri with a nod. “Isn’t that right? E-do?” He sounded out the fusion duelist’s name, drawing it out into two syllables and watching as he shuddered in response and quickly looked away. “He’ll lead right there with no funny business.”

Shun raised an eyebrow, “Dare I ask?”

Yuto shook his head, “No, you probably don’t. I think it’s better if we just don’t ask.”

“There might be guards out front,” said Ed, “To keep intruders out and alert everyone inside.”

“I think we can take them,” said Shun. “We took our your lot after all.”

“Don’t remind me.”

“Mmm, I don’t think fighting would work,” said Yuri. “After all that’ll give them a chance to alert whoever’s inside. But, I’m sure you could convince them to let us in, right?”

Ed tensed again, refusing to look at Yuri. “Maybe. But it won’t be easy, especially not this.” He held up his bound hands, wiggling his fingers. “This looks rather suspect.”

“Then we use you as a hostage,” said Yuri with a shrug. “You’re valuable to them after all, they’ll let us in if they don’t want you to get hurt.”

“You are a terrible person.”

Yuri grinned, “Normally flattery would get you everywhere, but not today.”

“Why are we trusting this guy again?” asked Sawatari, pointing at Yuri.

“Because I trust him,” said Yuto. “But I think we’re going to have to have a talk later.”

Yuri pouted. “You’re no fun Yuto.”

“Just behave yourself.”

 

Yugo groaned, he felt so stiff, like when he’d been sitting in one position for to long and moving made his joints pop and crack. Except he couldn’t move and when he opened his eyes he noticed everything around him seemed to be tinted red.

He shifted his position slightly, trying to figure out where he was.

Muffled noises sounded from somewhere ahead of him and he blinked slowly, trying to see through the red haze. With a groan he reached a hand out and his fingers bushed over something, at least for a moment. Then cool air blew past his face as the solid form in front of him vanished and light spilled in.

“Yugo!”

He stumbled forward and into a pair of arms, legs shaking as he tried to walk.

“Rin?”

“Oh Yugo!” The arms tightened around him, crushing him into her chest.

“Rin?” he asked, taking a few moments to take in the situation. “What’s going on? Where am I? What happened?”

“That’s what I wanted to ask you,” she said. “You were unconscious when Shinji brought you to me. What happened down there?”

He groaned as he tried to stand up, hands on her shoulders. “There was a duel, with Sergey I think. I’m pretty sure I won but, he wanted to kill me.” Yugo winced, “That wasn’t pleasant, it hurt. Not doing that again. Also, I think I broke the crystals, sorry.”

“I’m just glad you’re ok,” said Rin. “I was so worried, you’ve been out for days.”

“Days‽ Rin where am I?”

“The Barian world, goodness Yugo.”

Blinking he glanced around, finally taking in his surroundings as well as his and Rin’s appearance. True to her word, he was in the Barian world.

“How’d I get back here, I thought we were in the Synchro dimension.”

“We were, but you were hurt so I bought you back here. You’ve been in a sort of cocoon of crystal since then.”

“Is that what that was?” he asked, glancing back behind him. “That’s why I couldn’t move.”

Rin nodded, “Yeah it was. Come on, Yuya needs to fill you in on everything that’s happened while you were out.”

“How much could possibly have happened while I was out for a few days?”

 

“That’s the base?” asked Sawatari, pointing at the large structure that sat in a crater in the midst of Heartland. “It looks like some kind of, space ship or something!”

The structure in the center of the large crater did indeed have an otherworldly look to it, teardrop shaped with a large dome in the middle, all metal and purple glass.

Ed sighed, “That’s it.”

“Doesn’t exactly look guarded,” said Yuto. “In fact, I don’t see anyone outside.”

Ed craned his neck to see and frowned, “That is peculiar.”

“I guess getting in won’t be so difficult after all,” said Sawatari. “We might not even have to fight.”

“Let’s hope it’s that easy and that we aren’t walking into a trap,” said Shun.

“We better not be,” said Yuri, side-eyeing Ed.

“If it is then it’s news to me,” said Ed.

“Well we won’t find out by just standing here,” said Yuri, stuffing his hands in his pockets as he started towards the building, the rest following behind him.

“So, how do we get in?” asked Sawatari.

“There’s a hand scanner,” said Ed. “That way we know who’s coming and going.”

“Then it’ a good thing we brought you along,” said Yuri, clapping a hand on Ed’s shoulder and causing him to stiffen in response. “I’m not sure my hand would work, and theirs certainly won’t.”

“What about the transporter?” asked Shun.

“You’ll need someone to activate it, someone who knows how it works,” said Ed with a sigh.

“Good, then we’re all set,” chirped Yuri. “Now, why don’t you let us inside?”

Ed looked at his bound hands, then at the hand scanner, then back to Yuri as he wiggled his fingers.

Yuri sighed and rolled his eyes before undoing the bindings on his hands. “There you go.”

A hand on the pad, a flash of blue from the machine as it scanned it and the doors opened with a soft ‘wshh’ noise, inviting them inside.

“I suppose we’ll see if anyone’s home,” said Yuto, looking around as they stepped inside.

The inside was, fairly uninteresting and Ed pointed to the end of the hall, “The transporter is down that way,” he said. “There might be people in there though.”

“I’m sure we can take them,” said Sawatari with a grin. “They’ll never know what hit’em!”

“Let’s hope,” muttered Shun.

Ed walked ahead of them, Yuri only a step or two behind him. He’d been stripped of his disk so there wasn’t much he could do if he tried to run or fight back. He stopped at the door at the end of the hall, hesitating as he looked at the hand panel. With a sigh he put his hand on the scanner and the door slid open.

“Commander Phoenix where have you been? I sent a party out to search for you!” screeched a voice from the far end of the room. “You are well beyond tardy at this point!”

“Well I see you haven’t changed at all Noro,” sighed Yuri, hand on his hip.

The man in the deep navy blue suit sputtered, nearly dropping the watch in his hands as he stopped ranting long enough to look at the group.

“You didn’t tell me he was here,” said Yuri. “I thought we were going to actually have a problem.”

“Isn’t he a problem?” asked Sawatari.

Yuri snorted, “Hardly, he’s not even a duelist. Oh he can bark orders all day, but that’s all he’s good for.”

“How-how dare you! I heard you were missing, but I didn’t know it was because you’d gone traitor.”

Yuri rolled his eyes; he wasn’t even going to bother trying to correct him it just wasn’t worth it, and frankly he didn’t care anymore.

“And you!” he pointed at Ed. “It seems you’ve gone traitor too, leading these rats into our base!”

Ed sputtered indignantly, trying to protest, but Noro continued. “I suppose it can’t be helped, if the Commander-in-Chief has defected then I’ll just step up to the plate.”

Tucking away the watch he reached below the table he was standing at and produced a duel disk.

“I thought you said he wasn’t a duelist?” hissed Shun.

Yuri growled, “I didn’t think he was.”

 

Yugo could only listen, eyes wide in shock as Yuya finished filling him in everything that had happened, on the invasion, on Zarc, on everything he’d learned. “All that happened while I was out?”

Yuya nodded, “Yeah, so we can’t wait around any longer, we’re taking the fight to the Fusion dimension. We’re going to put an end to this, before more people get hurt.”

“Well count me in, these guys need a good ass kicking!”

Yuya looked to Selena, “You can get us there right?”

“I should be able to,” she said, folding her arms over her chest. “But you’ll have to stay close, or I can’t guarantee we won’t get split up.”

“Is everyone ready?” asked Yuya.

“Almost, Rin, where’s our D-Wheel?”

Rin sighed and pointed to the wall, where the very out of place looking D-Wheel was leaning. “I don’t think we’re all going to fit on it,” she said.

“I know, but it might come in handy if a few of us need to get away fast,” said Yugo. “We could fit two people on there, three if we really squished.”

“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” said Rin.

They looked towards Selena and Yuya nodded, “We’re ready whenever you’re ready,” he said.

“Good,” said Selena. “Then let’s go.”

 

Yuri sighed, dusting his sleeves off as he stepped onto the transporter.

Behind him, a very humbled and shaken Noro fiddled with the switches and buttons. He was not, as Yuri had correctly stated, a duelist. That didn’t mean he hadn’t tried to bluff them. It had worked, until every duel disk in the room activated and he nearly fainted in fright. Outnumbered and outgunned he cracked, making it fairly easy for Yuri to convince him to work the transporter for them, Ed still forced to accompany them to the Fusion dimension.

Noro scowled and grumbled, muttering to himself about how they would ‘get theirs’ once they were in Fusion.

“Just get on with it,” said Yuri, eyes narrowing in his direction. “We need to pay the Professor a visit.”


	68. Interlude

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's really short, I'm sorry.

The Synchro dimension was in chaos. The wormholes had ripped open all throughout the city, though most prominently around the area of the council building and Security building. So when they finally closed all hell broke loose.

A swarm of Commons, lead by Crow and Shinji, descended upon the Council building. Security took one look at the approaching mob and promptly bailed, or in some cases, joined them, having only joined Security in the first place for the money.

They weren’t of course, the only ones with a bone to pick it seemed, as by the time they reached the door there was already someone there, pounding on the doors demanding to be let him; a tall, blond haired man who looked out of place among the Commons.

The doors swung open as a silver haired teen stepped out, adjusting the glasses on his face.

He gave the lot a passing glance as he walked down the stairs. “They’re all yours.”

 

Akaba Reiji pressed his fingers together as he stared at the computer screen in front of him.

With Roger gone, the Council currently occupied with a crowd of upset Commons and Security no where to be found, he’d taken the opportunity to slip away to the remains of Roger’s office and labs in order to analyze the pieces of blue crystal that Tsukikage had brought him from the Underground.

When he’d left, the entire building was swarmed with angry Commons, leaving the Council with no way out, which was fine with him as it meant they couldn’t interfere with his work.

 

The shards in question varied in size from the size of his fingernail to the length of one of his fingers and all were a clear blue colour. He’d never encountered crystals like this before and it didn’t look like any gemstone he’d ever heard of.

Much like the red crystal that had appeared in Standard, it resisted all attempts to scratch or break it, leaving Reiji to wonder just how it had shattered in the first place. It must have taken a great deal of force and energy to break it.

He skimmed through the results of his earlier scans; despite their small size they contained a great deal of energy, and not of a kind familiar to him. What ever they were, they were not from any of the four dimensions. That left only the dimension that Yuya and his friends had come from, the one that Yuri had straight up forbade Reiji from investigating.

“Sir?” Tsukikage stepped into the room, Reira clinging tightly to his side. “Have you made any progress?”

For the last while Reiji had been analyzing the crystals and their properties, as without the results he’d obtained in Standard he had to start from scratch. On top of that, he’d been trying to repair their duel disks.

Reiji tapped the crystal shards, “These are extremely powerful. If I can channel their energy, we might be able to move across dimensions.”

Whatever it was that Roger had done, the wave of energy that had pulsed through the city had caused the dimensional teleportation function in their duel disks to short circuit, leaving them stuck in the Synchro. A quick diagnostic run on them had revealed that there was no fixing them; they were fried well beyond repair. All the other functions worked as intended, except the ability to traverse between dimensions. Reiji had tried to repair them of course, but to no avail, they simply fizzled out.

He picked up a shard, holding it up to the light, “These have an amazing power if we can tap into them.” He curled his hand around it as he stood up, adjusting his glasses with his other hand. “Power enough to get us through the dimensions, and who knows what else.”

 

It took some time, but eventually Reiji found a way to incorporate the crystals into the duel disk, routing their energy through it and watching as the dimensional system sprang to life.

He turned to Tsukikage, “We have remained in this dimension for far too long, it is time we paid my father a visit and put an end to all of this once and for all.”

 

Across three dimensions, portals began to open up, all with one destination in mind, the Fusion dimension.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, with this the story will be going on a hiatus until August 12th.   
> More details can be found [here](http://authoratmidnight.tumblr.com/post/162222691935/important-update-regarding-a-different-kind-of). 
> 
> The tl;dr of it is 1) I'm going on vacation in a few weeks as it is(so won't be able to update anyways), 2) My buffer is running low and I need to catch up, 3) I don't want to rush writing the chapters in order to keep doing the 1 chapter a week updates.
> 
> So when I come back, we'll be starting on the Fusion Arc!
> 
> (and yes the blond is who you think it is)


	69. Fusion Arc part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Look what's back! :D  
> And so it begins, the Fusion arc, the final arc in this long-ass fic. 
> 
> Hold on to your seats folks, it's going to be a ride.

One moment they were standing in the transporter in the heart of Heartland, the next the group found themselves standing in a similar, but clearly different transporter in (hopefully) the Fusion dimension.

For a moment there was silence, as the group looked around the room, and then they met the gazes of many very surprised Fusion duelists.

Then, all hell broke loose.

“Ah right, the transporters are connected,” said Yuri, clapping his hands together. “I forgot about that part.”

“Commander Phoenix!”

“Well at least we know that we’re definitely in the Fusion dimension,” sighed Yuto.

Chairs squeaked across the floor as half a dozen people got to their feet and surrounded the transporter.

“Oh I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” said Yuri, taking a step towards Ed and hooking an arm around his shoulders. “I mean you wouldn’t want anything to happen to your precious commander would you?”

Ed stiffened, clenching his jaw tightly, “You wouldn’t dare.”

“Do you really want to take that chance? You wouldn’t be the first person I’d carded.”

The students hesitated, their duel disks drawn but not activated.

“This lot shouldn’t be a problem,” said Yuri.

“What in going on here?” a loud voice boomed out and several heads turned in the direction it had come from.

His smirk vanished, “That on the other hand, that would be a problem.”

The problem took the form of a large man in a black uniform, cinched at the waist with a red belt and carrying a riding crop in one hand. His face was hard and set in a permanent looking scowl. The crop came down with a smack, landing in the palm of his hand.

“So who’s this?” asked Shun, readying himself for a duel.

“Sanders, one of Academia’s top instructors,” said Yuri. “He is efficient. Unlike Noro he can actually duel.”

“Phoenix! What is the meaning of this insubordination? Collaborating with the enemy?”

Ed sputtered, “Does this look like I’m collaborating with them?”

“It looks like they came through one of our transporters, into our base, and you accompanied them Phoenix!” he snapped, swinging the crop with another snap. “And you certainly don’t seem to be restrained in anyway.” He pointed to Yuri, “And with him, the defector.”

“Is that what everyone thinks?” asked Yuri, tilting his head to one side. He sighed, “I suppose it can’t be helped.”

“What are you all waiting for, stop standing around and apprehend them already!” barked Sanders.

“But what about Commander Phoenix? They threatened to–“

“It doesn’t matter, he’s a traitor anyways. Subdue or card him I don’t care!”

Ed’s face paled as the words sunk in, voice catching in his throat.

“Well, seems like you’re as good as doomed no matter what,” said Yuri, clapping him on the back a he released him. “So what do you say, help us get out of here and possibly live to see another day?” he asked, holding out his duel disk. “Because I’m pretty sure if you don’t you’re going to end up a card either way.”

Ed looked down at the duel disk, then back at the room where duel disks had begun to activate, flaring to life.

“I’m afraid you’re right,” he said, taking the disk from Yuri and fixing it to his wrist with a snap before retrieving his deck from a pocket and slipping it in. “The only way we’re getting out of this is by fighting our way out.”

“At least we can agree on one thing,” said Yuri with a wild grin. “So which one of you wants to go first? I’m really not that choosey.”

“Take them all out!” ordered Sanders. “Glory on the Academia!”

“Well isn’t he dramatic,” muttered Sawatari as chants of ‘Glory on the Academia’ filled the air.

“Yuri, you said you were going to face The Professor right?”

“That’s the plan,” he said with a nod. “But not if we can’t get past this lot.”

Ed sighed, “There’s a door behind us, if you go out it and follow the hall far enough you should end up outside. From there you should be able to find your way around.”

“And you’re telling me this because?”

“Because in a few minutes this place will be swarming with duelists and it’ll be impossible for any of us to escape. This lot, I can handle them on my own.”

“Why are you doing this?”

“If I’m doomed no matter what then I might as will try to survive, and that’ll only happen if you don’t get killed,” he said. “So stop standing around and get out of here!” With his other hand he shoved Yuri behind him, knocking him into the others.

“Well you heard him, let’s get out of here before they stop us.” Yuri grabbed the closest arm, Yuto’s arm apparently, and leapt off the platform.

“Stop them!” shouted Sanders, pointing at the Lancers as they hopped off the platform, Ed leaping in front of the group, duel disk at the ready.

“You’ll have to get through me first! If you can’t even do that, then you‘re not worth their time!”

“Can we even trust him?” asked Sawatari, glancing over his shoulder and back at Ed.

“Let’s not look a gift horse in the mouth,” said Shun. “If he’s going to buy us time then he can.”

“He’s tough,” said Yuri. “He’ll be fine. You don’t get to Commander by being weak after all.”

As they reached the door a loud clang sounded from behind them and they looked back to see a large cage fall over the room. Now there was no way back, and no way for their pursuers to follow them.

“That’s the same tactic he used on me,” said Sawatari. “That cage won’t be going away until the duel ends.”

Shun nodded, “Good, then let’s use the time he’s given us to escape.”

 

Holding his ground, Ed surveyed the scene. He’d set the cage not only not buy them some time to get out, but to make sure that no one else could join the fight, he had more than enough on his plate as it was.

He wondered if this is what it was like for the Xyz duelists, surrounded by Academia duelists who wanted to defeat and card you. It sent a chill down his spine, to be on the receiving end of this for once.

“Phoenix what is the meaning of this?” demanded Sanders, “Have you forgotten your place, what the Professor taught you?”

“It means I plan on walking out of this place,” replied Ed. “And in order to do that, I have to fight all of you first. So, what’ll it be, one at a time, or will you all come at me at once?”

 

Yuri raised a finger to his lips as they came to a corner, silencing the group.

“Alright, it looks clear, let’s keep moving.”

“How much farther?” asked Yuto.

“We should be near the end soon.”

“Should be? You sound like you don’t know the way.”

Yuri grimaced and looked away, “I haven’t. Not this particular building at any rate. But he said to go down the hall to the end, so it can’t be that difficult to find a door. Once we get outside I’ll know where to go.”

“So if you’ve never been here, how did you get to Heartland? I thought you said they sent everyone in through that portal,” said Yuto.

Yuri pointed at his duel disk. “I said they sent large amounts of people through. I’m just one person, so I didn’t need to go that way.”

“So it’s the blind leading the blind then?” asked Sawatari.

Yuri snorted, “Hardly. Now do me a favour and shut up so I can focus, I’d rather not run into any surprises.”


	70. Fusion Arc part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Yuya deeply regrets his life choices. And Yugo enjoys this way to much.

“Selena, I think we have a problem,” said Yuzu as Selena stepped through, the portal closing behind her.

“What is it?”

“The boys aren’t here, and neither’s Rin.”

“What?” Selena spun around, looking around the area and sure enough, the only ones there were Yuzu, Ruri and herself. “That’s, that’s not possible. They went through first they should be here. And they couldn’t have been captured, not that quickly.” Looking around again she noticed another problem with their location. “Oh no, we’re on the mainland!”

“That’s bad?” asked Ruri.

Selena nodded, “Really bad. Academia is on an island, now we have to figure out how to get across. Plus this place is patrolled by the Juvenile Officers to catch runaway students,” she said. “Getting caught by them is the last thing you’ll ever do. They don’t take prisoners and they certainly won’t take you back. We need to get out of here now, before we’re spotted.”

Yuzu looked around, they were standing at a set of docks, boats of various sizes tied off while people milled around, some of which had stopped and stared at them.

“We’re drawing far to much attention to ourselves out here,” said Selena, reaching for Yuzu’s hand. “Someone’s bound to have alerted the Juvenile Officers by now. Yuzu, Ruri, follow me!”

“Where are we going?’ asked Ruri as Selena grabbed her hand. “Selena?”

“I don’t know, but we need to get out of sight and off the streets.”

 

As Yuya stepped though the portal it flickered behind him and vanished with a pop. Which wouldn’t have been a problem except for the fact that he had gone through third; Yuzu, Ruri and Selena should have been coming through after him.

“That can’t be a good sign,” said Yugo, who was leaning on his D-Wheel. “What are we going to do? We don’t know anything about this dimension.”

“And I think we’re drawing attention,” said Rin, “Look where we are.”

While they had appeared in the Fusion dimension, they done so right in the middle of a busy street and everyone had begun to stare and whisper, pointing at them.

“I think we should try and get out of here,” said Yugo. “Get somewhere quiet and the try and contact Selena. I’m sure she’ll know what to do.” He gestured to the back of his D-Wheel with his thumb before pulling im helmet on and tossing a spare to Rin. “Both of you get back there so we can leave.”

“Is that even safe?” asked Yuya.

“We’ll stick you in the middle so you don’t fall,” said Rin, grabbing him by the arm. “And it’s perfectly safe.”

“I thought a D-Wheel accident was how you died!”

“Details, details, just sit down and hold onto Yugo. And don’t let go,” said Rin, all but forcing Yuya onto the vehicle before sitting down behind him. “Alright Yugo, let’s bail!”

The D-Wheel revved and lurched forward and Yuya instinctively grabbed onto Yugo, wrapping his arms around the Synchro duelist.

Behind him, he felt Rin grab his shoulders as the D-Wheel began to move. It was a small comfort, at least she wouldn’t let him fall off. Hopefully.

“How are we going to hide? You don’t even know where we are!” exclaimed Yuya as the D-Wheel sped off.

“I’ll just wing it!” grinned Yugo.

 

“Selena, why don’t we just try to call the boys?” panted Yuzu as they came to a stop in a back alley. “If we can find out where they are, we can go find them.”

Selena shook her head as she slumped against the wall, taking a moment to catch her breath. “No we can’t. No matter what you do, you can’t try to contact them.”

“Why not?” asked Ruri.

Selena sighed, “Because, they’ll be able to track you as soon as you open communications of any kind,” she said. “They’ll find us and drag us back, or worse.” Selena shook her head, “We’re going to have to do this without them, and them without us.”

“But we have one thing that they don’t,” said Yuzu. “We have you. You know this dimension, they don’t. We have to find them before they get into serious trouble.”

Selena nodded, “You’re right, but without any idea where they landed, that could be hard.”

“Girls,” Ruri tugged on Yuzu’s arm and pointed at the end of the alleyway. “We have company, and not of the good variety.”

Selena and Yuzu turned to look and Selena clenched her teeth at the sigh of several uniformed teens, duel disks drawn.

“Damn it, they found us. Those are the Juvenile Officers, now we’re really in trouble.

 

Yugo panted as he rounded another corner, narrowly missing civilians and ignoring Yuya’s horrified screaming from the back seat.

Their sudden appearance in the middle of the city had in fact drawn too much attention, and suddenly taking off on a futuristic looking bike didn’t help matters.

“Do you even know where you’re going?” asked Yuya.

“Not a damn clue!” he replied, almost laughing. “But as long as it gets us out of here does it matter?”

Yuya groaned, Yugo was going to be the death of him for certain.

“Shouldn’t we try and figure out how to get to Duel Academy?” asked Rin. “I’m sure that’s where everyone else is, or where they’ll be going if they aren’t.”

“Do I look like I know how to get there?” asked Yugo, skidding to a halt as they rounded into a dead end. “Damnnit.”

“Selena once told me it was on an island, which means that this won’t be any help, we’ll need a boat.”

“Meaning what?” asked Yugo. “We don’t have a boat, and this is not amphibious.”

“The docks, we have to go down to the docks, there’s bound to be plenty of boats there.”

Looking between them, Yuya sputtered, “Do either of you know how to drive a boat?” he asked. “And for that matter, _how_ are we going to get one? No one’s just going to give three strange kids a boat across.”

Rin and Yugo shared and look as a grin spread across Rin’s face.

“Oh that’s easy,” said Yugo.

“We’ll just steal one,” finished Rin.

Yuya groaned, “Great, I’m friends with a bunch of criminals.”


	71. Fusion Arc part 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so the descent begins...

With a heave, Yuri threw his weight into the door, flinging it open and stumbling into the outside courtyard.

It was a fairly uninteresting and empty looking courtyard, with a wide-open space right in the center and hedged walkways all around the edge.

“Finally,” he sighed, rubbing his shoulder.

“Do you even know where we are?” asked Yuto.

“Of course I do. I used to duel here all the time.”

“I know that.”

“No, I mean this courtyard, I used to duel here all the time,” said Yuri, gesturing to the open space. “That’s a duel arena, at least that’s what everyone used it for.” He turned back, glancing behind them at the door they’d just come out and clicked his tongue. “I always wondered where that door lead to, guess I know now.”

“So you know the way out then?” asked Shun. “And how to find the Professor?”

Yuri nodded, “Now that we’re here, absolutely. In fact we shouldn’t be too far off,” he said. “But we’ll have to go back inside, which means dodging more of Academia’s forces.”

“Then what are we waiting for?” asked Sawatari, “We owe this Leo guy a real good butt kicking so let’s go give it to him!”

Yuri grinned, “I like how you think.”

“Oh I don’t think you’ll be going anywhere just yet,” came a cool voice from the shadows of the walkway.

Yuri narrowed his eyes, he knew that voice, how could he not, having worked with it’s owner on many assignments-both field work and practical work.

“Dennis.”

“You don’t sound happy to see me,” he said, stepping out to meet them. “I’m hurt Yuri.” He put his hands over his heart in mock pain as he strode towards them. “After all, I thought you and I were friends Yuri.”

“So this is where you crawled off to,” growled Shun, raising his arm. “I guess it was too much to hope you had been carded.”

“You took off after Sora!” cried Gongenzaka. “If you hurt him…”

“Oh no, no, heavens no. I didn’t hurt him. In fact he’s perfectly fine, just remembering where his loyalties lie is all,” said Dennis with a painfully cheerful smile and spring in his voice. “Now, I have a traitor to deal with,” he said, turning his attention back to Yuri.

“Yuto, take the others on ahead, this is between Dennis and I.”

“I don’t know the route,” said Yuto.

“Just keep going the way we have been,” said Yuri. “Head through that door and just, keep going till you find the really big ones. You can’t miss them. And if they’re closed or locked just blast them down for all I care.”

Yuto looked at Dennis, then back at Yuri, “And he’ll just let us pass?”

“You lot aren’t my problem, besides, the rest of the forces will get you, why should I waste time chasing you all down?” asked the redhead with a shrug.

“Just get moving!” snapped Yuri.

Without a second word, Yuto ran past him, Shun, Gongenzaka and Sawatari right on his heels.

“You know, it’s really a shame about your sister Kurosaki, going and dying on us like that.”

Shun froze, turning to look at Dennis, who wore and impish grin. “What are you talking about?”

“In Heartland, I’m sure things could have gone so much smoother if you’d protected her like you should have, then she’d still be alive and our plans wouldn’t have become so, messy.”

Shun made a lunge for him until Yuto grabbed his jacket, pulling him back. “He’s baiting you Shun, don’t listen to him.” Yuto held him tightly, “We need to focus, let Yuri deal with him.”

Shun’s hands fell to his sides, clenched in tight fists, his shoulders slumping in defeat. “Fine, but he better win.”

“Please, Dennis has never once beaten me,” said Yuri. “I’ll join you in a bit.”

Tearing his gaze from Dennis, Shun followed after Yuto as they headed towards the door at the far end.

“You really shouldn’t make promises you can’t keep Yuri,” said Dennis, his cheery smile slipping. “After all, you promised your loyalties to Academia, and now look. You’ve turned on us, helping those Xyz rebels!”

“It’s not what you think Dennis!” While Yuri had all but given up trying to explain the truth to most people, Dennis was the sole exception. He’d been the closest thing to a friend Yuri had had at Duel Academy, Yuri wanted him to know the truth. After all, maybe if he knew, he could help them, as while it was it was true that he’d never lost to Yuri, he was still strong, his help would be immensely valuable.

“Isn’t it?” he asked, the once perky look on his face now replaced with a sneer. “You went missing on assignment from what I hear. And then, the next thing I know, you’re in Standard working with the enemy.”

“It’s not that simple. I was betrayed first, by the Professor!”

“Lies.” Dennis’ duel disk flashed to life and suddenly a stream of red light shot out from the front, wrapping around Yuri’s wrist and duel disk before vanishing.

Yuri’s eyes widened in shock as he stared, that was not normal and he’d never seen it happen before. “What the hell was that?” he sputtered. “Dennis what did you do?”

“Oh, it’s just a little something the Professor’s been working on since you left us. Now you won’t be able to leave until this duel concludes,” he said. “And, that’s not all it does.”

Yuri narrowed his eyes, “What are you talking about?”

 

Ed panted, leaning against the wall as he sank to the floor, his vision swimming and blurring in front of him and his legs shaking and trembling under him.

He gripped his left arm, the stinging pain lancing though it only growing worse with each moment.

He closed his eyes, taking a moment to try and gather himself before using the wall to pull himself to his feet, he couldn’t stop there, not yet, not without first warning the others. Shun, Yuto, Yuri, Gongenzaka, Sawatari, they would be walking right to their deaths if he didn’t find them and warn them before they got into a duel.

Back to back duels, he’d done it before during training and it had never been a problem, a little tiring for sure but nothing like this.

This time there had been something different, something in Sander’s duel disk that had changed everything.

A string of gems that he hadn’t noticed before, violet in colour and seemingly embedded in the duel disk. Gems that he’d noticed glowing strangely every time someone took damage. Not to mention what had happened to Sanders after when the duel concluded, when Ed won. He shuddered at the memory.

He stumbled again and shook his head, trying to clear his vision.

“ _I have to warn them,_ ” he thought. “ _I just hope I can make it before my time’s up, or else their time will be up soon_.”

He wasn’t even sure why he was worried about them, they were the enemy after all. Yet this feeling in his gut made him keep moving on, a feeling that was only made worse when he briefly thought about simply not telling them.

It would be easy given his condition after all, just stay where he was the next time he collapsed and let things take their course. He could barely stand as it was, and no one would ever know anyways.

But the moment the thought entered his mind his stomach twisted uncomfortably and something inside nagged him to keep going, to find them and warn them that every duel on the island was now life or death.

 

“You know, I don’t think I’m going to tell you,” said Dennis, “I think I’ll let you find out for yourself what’s going to happen.”

“ **Duel!** ”


	72. Fusion Arc part 4

Even with a even three on three, the Juvenile Officers had the girls in a pinch, quickly shutting down their ability to counter their attacks and limiting the summoning abilities from the Extra Deck.

Ruri trembled as she stepped back, almost hiding behind Yuzu, the spell on their field prevented any kind of extra deck summoning aside from Fusion, putting her in a real bind and making her their main target of attacks.

Yuzu and Selena had done their best to protect her, but they could only remain on the defensive for so long before they had to start attacking again.

“What do we do Selena?” asked Yuzu.

“I don’t know,” she admitted. “This is a bigger problem than I anticipated.” She eyed up the field, three monsters on their opponent’s side and only one left on their own, hardly a fair matchup.

“Are you three ready to give up yet?” asked one of the officers.

“Hardly,” hissed Selena.

“So you’re going to make us do this the hard way then.”

_INTRUSION PENALTY-2000 POINTS_

The screens on their duel disks flashed up the message and the beeping of life points being deducted sounded from somewhere overhead.

The Juvenile Officers looked around in confusion, trying to find the source of the intrusion. Someone had intruded on the duel, but there was no one to be seen.

A hooded figure leapt down from the rooftop and into the alley, landing between the officers and the girls, their duel disk drawn.

“I think you’ve caused enough trouble for one day,” they said, removing the cloak and tossing it aside.

“You!”

Selena gasped softly as waves of blond hair fell free around the woman’s shoulders.

“You’re the traitor that’s been causing us so much trouble!” said one of the officers. “Asuka Tenjoin.”

“Looks like we’ll be bringing back another runaway,” said a different Officer. “Look at our field, there’s nothing you can do to stop us!”

Asuka smirked, “Is that so? I summon Etoile Cyber from my hand and set one card,” she said as a monster dressed like a dancer leapt onto the field. “And I activate the Swords of Revealing Light! I might not be able to attack on my first turn, but now neither can you!” A barrier of shimmering swords flew down from the heavens, surrounding the mechanical hounds on the other side of the field.

“Do you know her?” asked Yuzu, turning to Selena.

“I’ve heard of her,” said Selena. “The youngest Tenjoin sibling, she’s infamous for going rogue.”

“Sibling?”

Selena nodded, “Asuka and Fubuki Tenjoin were some of Duel Academy’s top duelists. And then, Fubuki went missing while in the Xyz dimension, and Asuka defected.” She looked back at the duel, where the Juvenile Officers were powering up their hounds in preparation for when they could finally attack. “I never thought I’d get to meet her though.”

“Can you three still duel?” asked Asuka, glancing behind her at Ruri, Yuzu and Selena.

“Yeah, but I don’t think we have anything to get past those defenses though,” said Yuzu, looking at the three, 3000 attack point monsters that growled at them from across the field.

“And as long as they have that spell card in play I can’t do much of anything,” said Ruri. “It only allows one kind of Extra Deck summoning method, in this case Fusion. All I can do is defend.” As if to demonstrate she set a monster in defense mode before ending her turn.

“Then don’t worry about fighting, and leave this to me,” said Asuka.

“Are you sure?” asked Yuzu.

She nodded, “Yes.”

“Alright, then I switch my Mozarta into defense mode as well,” said Yuzu. “And set one card face down, just in case.”

“I’ll do the same thing,” said Selena, switching her monster into defense mode as well.

“So have you just given up then?” asked the tallest officer. “Three defense position monsters and one small fry? You can’t do anything.”

“Didn’t I tell you?” asked Asuka, “You’re lucky I couldn’t attack on my first turn. I activate Machine Angel Ritual!”

“Ritual?”

“I tribute the level 4 Etoile Cyber on my field, and the level 6 Cyber Prima in my hand.”

 

_Brilliant angel who hides infinite power!_

_Reveal yourself to the whole world, and illuminate all creation!_

_Descend!_

_Level 10!_

_Cyber Angel-Vishnu!_

 

“She’s, ritual summoning?” asked Yuzu.

A tall, shimmering figure appeared on the field, several long wings spreading out from her back.

“And now, Vishnu’s effect activates, destroying every Fusion monster the field!”

The Juvenile Officers froze as a wave of energy rippled out, destroying each of their monsters in turn.

“And you take 1000 points of damage each! And, that’s not all.” Asuka smirked, “Because Cyber Angel Vishnu can attack once for every monster destroyed, and I count three monsters down! Go, Cyber Angel Vishnu, attack!”

Wings glowing brightly the angel turned her attention to the three duelists on the far side of the field, three orbs of light materializing over her hands. In the blink of a eye the orbs whipped through the air, exploding on the officers.

Asuka turned to the girls as the duel drew to a close behind her, “Follow me, before they realize we’re gone,” she said.

“Follow you where?” asked Selena.

“To somewhere safe, it’s clear that all three of you are on Duel Academy’s radar, so it’s not safe out here for you. I’m not the only defector from Duel Academy.”

 

“I think we’ve out run anyone following us, for now,” said Yugo, pulling his bike into an alley, chest heaving as he leaned over the handlebars. “We better have, because I’m bushed.”

“Why don’t we switch?” asked Rin, releasing Yuya as she climbed off the bike. “I’ll drive, you just hold on.”

“You sure?” asked Yugo, lifting his head.

“Of course I am, now get off and let me take the lead, I’ll get us to the docks.”

For a moment Yugo just there before quickly climbing off and giving Rin space.

“Don’t I get a say in this?” asked Yuya. “Can’t we just walk? We’ll attract a lot less attention that way.”

“No!” chimed Yugo and Rin.

“It’s faster this way,” said Rin as she climbed on.

Yuya looked at Rin and hesitated, was he still supposed to hold onto her?

“Oh, don’t be a baby,” she said rolling her eyes. “Just grab my waist alright? And Yugo, hold onto him.”

“Yes ma’am.” There was a thump behind Yuya and he felt a pair of hands grab his shoulders firmly. “Alrighty, one duelist held in place, now let’s hit the road, again!”

Yuya groaned, these two were going to be the death of him, and if he ever rode on a motorcycle after this, it would be far to soon.

The bike revved up again and Yuya quickly grabbed onto Rin, holding onto her waist as they rolled out of the alley and back down the road.

“Now let’s go and get us a boat!”

Yuri had known that something was up the moment the duel had started, Dennis had made that much clear, but he hadn’t been sure what.

Until he took damage from an attack and it hurt, actually physically hurt. And more than that he felt weakened somehow.

‘ _That was strange,_ ’ he thought, looking down at his hand and flexing his fingers slightly. Duels weren’t supposed to do that.

“Dennis what the hell was that?” he asked, narrowing his eyes at his former ally as Shadow Maker cackled and returned to its owner’s side of the field.

“Oh, so you noticed,” said Dennis, almost playfully.

“How could I not?” asked Yuri, flexing his fingers as he waited for the strength to return to them. “What did you do?”

 

Ed was just about to give up trying to find the rebels, his legs barely carrying him any more, when he rounded a corner and nearly fell into them.

“Man what happened to you?” asked Sawatari, crouching down beside him. “I thought you were just dueling some guys.”

“It’s not…it’s not…” Ed panted, vision blurring and slipping in and out of focus as he pulled himself into a sitting position, all he could manage in his state.

“Not what?” asked Yuto, dropping to one knee.

“Dueling. It’s not…just dueling,” he said, letting himself fall back against the wall. “They’ve…done something…they…drain you. And losers…” He put his head in one hand as a wave of darkness momentarily overtook his vision. “Don’t duel…you can’t lose…not now.”

“What did they do?” asked Yuto, putting his hands on Ed’s shoulders. Or at least, that was what he intended to do, instead his hands slipped through the fusion duelist’s shoulders, which had begun to turn translucent.

“Something in the duel disks,” said Ed weakly, lifting his head to look at them. “Don’t duel…you can’t get out…and if you lose…” He eyes fell closed as he slumped back against the wall with a sigh. “Sorry…please…don’t…die.”

Yuto, and the others, could only watch in horror as Ed, whose body had slowly been fading right before their eyes, vanished in what seemed to be an small, silent explosion of light. The only thing that remained was his duel disk, falling to the ground with a soft clatter.

Shun’s eyes widened in horror and Sawatari stumbled back in shock, hands over his mouth as he fought to keep on his feet.

“What the hell was that? He just, he just vanished!” sputtered Sawatari. “That’s, that’s not normal!”

“You’re right it’s not,” said Yuto, narrowing his eyes. “And neither is what he was telling us.” He stood up and looked at Shun, Sawatari and Gongenzaka, “I think the stakes of all the duels on this island, and perhaps even in this dimension, just got raised.”

“Yeah, but how high?” asked Shun, folding his arms over his chest.

 

Whatever it was that had happened to Yuri earlier, was clearly a two way street.

“Moray Nepenthes destroy his Plushfire!” The flytrap like monster wrapped its vines around the torch, squeezing it until it exploded in a burst of stuffing and sparks.

As he commanded the monster on his field to attack, Yuri watched as Dennis took the damage, then, for a moment seemed to glow slightly, wincing in pain as he fell onto his knees.

“So, we take real damage then?” asked Yuri. “Every time we take an attack?”

“Close,” said Dennis as he stood up, one arm hanging limp at his side. “But that’s only the beginning. And now it’s my turn again, so I suppose you’re going to get to experience the true effects of this duel just a bit more.”

Yuri clenched his teeth in frustration, wishing he could get through to Dennis. He’d tried, but it was like talking to a brick wall. He wanted to get through to him in the hopes of getting him to end the duel, because it was beginning to feel like a duel he didn’t want to see through to the end.

“Dennis, how are you doing this?” he asked. What ever was causing the pain was far more than just a Solid Vision program, it had to be. Having dueled in several different dimensions already he knew this couldn’t just be due to the Solid Vision, that only hurt when something actually hit him, regardless of life points. This hurt when life points were lost regardless whether or not if he’d actually been struck. And what was more, it left him feeling tired.

Life drain, exhaustion, the thing preventing him from leaving the duel, it was all connected somehow; he just needed to figure out how.

Dennis held up his arm, waving the duel disk around, “I’m surprised you haven’t noticed,” he chided. “Take a closer look, don’t you see anything new?”

Yuri narrowed his eyes, when the duel had started and that, thing, shot out from Dennis’ disk and wrapped around his arm, he swore he’d seen something glimmering on the surface of the disk, but chalked it up to his imagination. But now, as he looked closer, he could see something embedded in the surface of the disk, along the edge of the blue shield.

Yuri cursed silently, how had he not seen them before? Shimmering violet against rich blue, a string of gemstones lined one edge of the duel disk, not far from where the anchor had come out.

“Ah so you have noticed them? Pretty nice aren’t they?” said Dennis running a finger over the stones. “Nearly everyone at Duel Academy has them in their duel disks, it was the Professor’s idea you see. Turning people into cards harvests their energy, but this, dueling them to their limit first? It gathers so much more. And of course, the anchor keeps them in place so they can’t runaway till the duel is done.”

“Doesn’t that seem counterproductive since it takes your energy too?” asked Yuri.

“Not at all, in fact it speeds up the Professor’s plan.”

Yuri clenched his fists at his sides, “And what happens to the loser of a duel?”

“What do you think? They’re absorbed of course.”

 

“Ah what’s this looks like we found the group of intruders we heard about.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case you were wondering, I have a canon explanation for Fubuki's whereabouts.  
> http://authoratmidnight.tumblr.com/post/164197418390/i-dont-have-a-spot-in-the-au-for-this-to-ever  
> Here you go.


	73. Fusion Arc part 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I almost gave you this chapter last week. oops. 
> 
> Anyways, time, for some answers!

“Do you know where we are Selena?” asked Ruri as they followed Asuka through the back roads and alleyways of the city.

She shook her head; “I’ve never been on these roads in my life,

“Miss Asuka, where are we going?” asked Yuzu, looking up at the taller woman.

“To our base, the You Show Duel School.”

Yuzu almost tripped over her own feet in shock, You Show, but that was impossible, it couldn’t be, could it?

“You Show?”

Asuka nodded, “Yes. I’m sure our principal would be interested to meet you, all three of you.”

Yuzu bit her bottom lip; there was no way it was the same but the name, the chances of it having the same name as her school in Standard…

“Yuzu?” Selena’s hand came to rest on her arm and she jumped slightly. “Is everything alright?”

“I-I don’t know. You Show, that’s the name of the duel school that my dad taught at, the one Yuya’s dad founded with him,” she said. “So, why is there one here with that name?”

“I think we’re going to find out soon,” said, Selena, pointing at the building they’d stopped in front of.

Asuka looked around quickly before pulling the door open and ushering them inside.

The inside was as uninteresting as the outside, looking almost like an abandoned church with the rows of empty seats that filled it. At the far end of the room was another door, blending into the wall until Asuka opened it and Yuzu could only wonder where it led.

She wasn’t left wondering for long, as Asuka lead them through the door and down a flight of stairs to a narrow hallway.

Down the hall she could hear the faint sounds of voices, many voices coming from large rooms she could see through the windows in the walls.

“Are they, dueling?” she asked.

Asuka nodded, “We’re a safe haven for duelists that have left Duel Academy. At least, those who were able to get away.”

“What do you mean?” asked Ruri.

She sighed, “Any deserters who are caught are turned into cards on the spot. So any who can escape come here. Now, you three wait out here while I go tell the principle.”

They watched as Asuka vanished into another room, the door swinging shut behind her.

“Do you really think that Mr. Sakaki is the one behind this school as well?” asked Ruri, turning to Yuzu.

“I don’t know. But I mean it has the same name so, why else would it? But I guess, we’re going to find out soon. But if it is him…oh how am I going to tell him about Standard?”

Selena placed a hand on her shoulder comfortingly, squeezing it gently. “Don’t worry, everything will be fine.”

“I hope so.”

The door opened again and Asuka gestured for them to come inside.

The new room was small and looked out over the hall where dozens of students were dueling each other. The figure at the widow tuned to meet them and Yuzu gave a soft cry, hands flying to her mouth.

The man at the other end of the room leaned on a cane and wore a deep red suit, like a magician’s outfit, complete with a top hat. He had thick black hair, complete with a beard and moustache and warm amber eyes that landed on the trio, widening in realization when they landed on Yuzu.

“Uncle Yusho!” she cried, before tearfully bolting forward and into his arms.

“Yuzu! This is a shock, what are you doing here? Where is Yuya?”

Yuzu trembled, clinging to him tightly as one of his hands rested on her head. “Yuya’s with some friends, he’s safe. But, but Standard is, Standard is…” she trailed off. Yuzu looked up at him, tears stinging the corners of her eyes, “Standard’s been attacked, just like Heartland!”

“What?” chimed both Asuka and Yusho.

Yusho’s hands trembled as they held his cane, “No, that’s can’t be, he wouldn’t.”

“I saw it, it’s in ruins and they-they got my dad and, miss Yoko too.”

Yusho froze, hands hovering just over Yuzu as the neutral expression on his face cracked. Slowly he let go of her, limping over to the chair, face in one hand.

“I had no idea it had gotten so bad. I never thought he would go that far, that he could actually attack Standard as well.” He sat down with a light thump. “I thought at least Standard, his home, would be spared.”

“You know the Professor?” asked Selena.

Yusho nodded, “He is an old friend of mine.” He looked up, finally taking a moment to get a look at Selena and Ruri and did a double take, they looked just like Yuzu.

“This is Selena, who’s from the Fusion dimension, and Ruri, who’s from the Xyz dimension,” explained Yuzu. “Yuya’s with two more friends, Yugo and Rin, who are from Synchro. They’re somewhere in this dimension but, we got separated so I don’t know where they are.”

Yusho nodded slowly, “I see, I hope he stays out of trouble.”

 

“Do either of you even know how to hot wire a boat?” asked Yuya. “Or how to drive one once we have it?”

“No,” said Yugo, “But how hard could it really be? I mean, you have a steering wheel right? Seems simple enough to me.”

Yuya groaned, these two were insane and were going to get them all killed.

 

“Did you know what the Professor was up to?” asked Selena.

Yusho shook his head, “No, at least not entirely,” he said.

“Why is he doing this?” asked Yuzu. “And, how did you end up here? Everyone’s been so worried, especially Yuya.”

Yusho shook his head, leaning back in the chair.

“Leo and I go back to even before I met Yoko. I don’t know if you know, but we worked together on the Solid Vision System in Standard, making it was it is now.”

Yuzu nodded, “Miss Yoko told us about that.”

“Well, that wasn’t all we were working on. While we were developing the system we discovered the existence of another dimension. It was unprecedented, another dimension, so much like ours, except not. While our dimension had all of the known extra deck summoning methods, this new dimension only had one, Fusion. So we began to wonder, if there was a dimension that specialized in only Fusion summoning, did this mean there was also a dimension that specialized in Synchro, or Xyz? So we continued our research and were proven right. In the end, we realized that there were four dimensions, Fusion, Xyz, Synchro and our own, Standard. For a while after that, our research grew stagnant, or so I thought, and we finished up with the Solid Vision system. And then about three years ago I learned what Akaba Leo was up to.”

“But why?” asked Ruri. “Why would he want to do this? To try and make them into one?”

Yusho sighed, “I fear it might be somewhat because of something I said. It always felt odd to me that the dimensions would be split up the way they were, three with only one summoning method and one with all of them. It was an off hand comment from too many late nights and not enough sleep, but I proposed that there might have existed a fourth summoning method, that each single dimension should only have one summoning method, and that all four should only exist in one dimension if there _was_ only one dimension.” He shook his head, “I do not know what possessed him to think that fusing the dimensions into one would help anything, or how he got that from what I said.”

“He said he was going to create a paradise by merging all the dimensions,” said Selena, folding her arms over her chest.

“As I have heard. After I told him my theory, he began to wonder if the dimensions had been one at some point. I recall him digging into old legends and myths but, I never paid it much heed. Perhaps I should have.”

“But, there IS a fourth summoning method from the Extra Deck!” said Yuzu, quickly pulling out her deck. “Yuya discovered it only recently, Pendulum Summoning!”

“Pendulum?”

She nodded, holding out some cards to him, “These are Pendulum cards. Yuya just sort of, created them one day, no one knows how. These ones were created by Reiji, after the fact.”

Reaching a gloved hand he took the cards, carefully examining them. “Extraordinary, I never would have imagined I was right, or that Yuya would…” he laughed and shook his head.

“So how did you end up here Mr. Sakaki?’ asked Ruri. “From how I heard it, you vanished from Standard several years ago, and I heard you were in Heartland for a time.”

Yusho nodded slowly, “That’s right. A few years ago I got wind that Akaba Leo had not in fact dropped our research on the dimensions like I thought and had taken it even farther, he’d invented dimensional travel. If it had just been that I might not have interfered but I caught wind of an invasion. So, I left to talk to him. I thought that being his friend I could change his mind, make him see reason.” He sighed and closed his eyes, “Unfortunately I never got the chance, the device I used to travel dimensions malfunctioned and I was dropped in the middle of Heartland with no way to go leave it. And no way to fix it either, it was technology I was unfamiliar with as he’d developed it without me. I took up teaching in the hope that I could prepare the Xyz dimension for Leo’s arrival, whenever it was.”

“And then the invasion happened?”

He nodded, “Just over a year ago the invasion happened and the dimension was ripped apart. Using a duel disk I had taken from a Fusion dimension duelist, I managed to get my own working again, at least enough to get me here. Unfortunately, it was a patch job and the teleportation was botched and my leg was mangled in the process. And it’s only been harder to get to Leo since then, so I set this up. But to hear that he’s gone and attacked Standard as well, what could he be thinking?” He clasped his fingers together and sighed heavily, “It seems things have gotten a lot worse that I thought they were. It might be time to finally pay my old friend a visit and put an end to this once and for all.”

“That’s exactly why we’re here,” said Selena. “We’re taking the fight to him.”


	74. Fusion Arc part 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's late! I was hopelessly distracted by the VC release of Pokemon Silver. Gen 2 is my favourite.
> 
> Anyways, I apologize in advance for this.

Yuri leaned against the wall and panted, holding his right arm weakly. He could barely find the strength to raise it. He couldn’t stop thinking about the crystals on Dennis’ duel disk, there was something familiar about them, about the energy that crackled in the air each and every time they glowed, but what was it?

“Dennis, where did these crystals come from?” he asked. “Where did the Professor get them?”

“Why he made them of course,” said Dennis. “Synthesized in the lab, that’s all I know I’m afraid. But they’re powerful aren’t they?”

“They’re something alright. But now it’s my turn, and I’ll make you listen one way or another. I activate the spell card Super Fusion! I fuse together Predator Plant Sundew Kingi on my side of the field, with the Entermage Trapeze Magician on your field. Now your own monster is going to be your downfall.”

“But you can’t!”

“I can! Sundew’s effect causes the Predator Counter to turn your Magician into a Dark type monster, and what’s more, it allows me to use it as a fusion material!”

 

_Beautiful flower with an insect-alluring fragrance and shadow born performer!_

_Now become one, and from the hell beneath your petals, give birth to a new terror!_

_Fusion Summon! Appear!_

_Poisonous dragon with hungering fangs._

_Level 8!_

_Starve Venom Fusion Dragon!_

 

The large, fearsome dragon materialized on the field, thrashing its vine-like appendages in the air as it roared and snapped.

“I know that you know what this monster can do Dennis,” he said, pushing away from the wall. “Now Starve Venom, wipe out the rest of his life points. Hell’s Aurora!”

The dragon reared back, wings cracking open with a hellish light as it roared.

“I really didn’t want it to end like this Dennis, but you gave me no choice.”

Threads of red light wrapped around Dennis, tightening with every passing moment, and Dennis winced in pain, wrapping his arms around himself as he fell to his knees, his life points dropping as well.

“I tried to tell you Dennis,” he said as he knelt beside him. “I never deserted anyone. I was the one who was betrayed. The Professor had me carded for messing up an order, an order I never even got. I don’t know how I came back or why, perhaps to put an end to this. Now tell me, what is this? What are these crystals? What do they do?”

“Well, I suppose I can tell you now, not like I can be punished anyways,” he said, looking up at Yuri weakly. “I wasn’t lying when I said I don’t know where they came from, though there are rumours that they’re from another world so, maybe they’re actually alien who knows.” He laughed and shook his head, red hair bouncing around his face. “They anchor a duelist into a duel, and tie your life points to your life. So when you lose life points, it actually sucks your energy. And if you lose a duel…well you’ll see soon enough I suppose.”

“So that’s why I hurt so much,” said Yuri.

Dennis nodded, “And everyone at Duel Academy is equipped with these.” He wiggled his wrist free of his duel disk, holding it out to Yuri for a closer look. “You know, all I wanted was the Professor’s approval, your approval. You’re the only friend I have you know. So hearing that you’d gone traitor, it hurt.”

“You’re such a moron Dennis.”

“I’m pretty sure you’ve told me that before, but I won’t argue with you. I suppose I am. I mean, I challenged you to a duel I couldn’t hope to win.”

“What?”

“You said it yourself, I’ve never beaten you, and just adding those crystals to my duel disk wouldn’t ensure my victory.”

Yuri glanced down at the stones, running a finger over them experimentally, they were cold as ice and a shock ran through him the moment he touched one. His eyes widened in horror, now he knew what they were. He looked back to Dennis to talk, but the words died in his throat when he saw Dennis’ appearance. He was almost see-through, like a ghost, and seemed to be fading away into small particles of light.

“I’m sorry Yuri, perhaps we’ll have a chance to make up in another life time.”

“No! Dennis!” Yuri reached out, only for his hand to pass harmlessly though Dennis as he vanished in a burst of light. Hand shaking, his face became a mask of horror, so that was what Dennis had meant by the loser would be absorbed. With their life energy spent they were absorbed by the crystals in the duel disk, or whatever it was that collected the life energy.

‘ _I need to warn the others now!_ ’ He leapt to his feet, only to collapse again as a searing pain lanced though him, he’d taken a number of powerful hits during the duel, and now it was beginning to show. ‘ _I just hope I can get to them in time, before something happens to me._ ’

 

Yuto didn’t like the idea of being sent on alone, especially not in the heart of the Fusion dimension when it meant leaving behind the rest of his allies, but Shun hadn’t given him a choice.

They’d been cornered by a group of three students and challenged to a duel, which had meant someone had to run ahead while the other three kept them occupied. He’d been outvoted and all but forcibly sent on ahead. And once he started running it hadn’t really mattered, as walls rose up behind him, trapping Shun and the rest with the Academia students, he couldn’t go back now even if he wanted.

‘ _Yuri said it’s just straight ahead, so I should just keep going then,_ ’ he thought.

His thoughts drifted back to Ed’s warning, or his attempt at a warning.

‘ _Shun, please be ok._ ’ If things really were as bad as he made them out to be, he shuddered at the thought of anything happening to Shun, of his vanishing the way Ed had. No, Shun was too good a duelist to let that happen, whatever that had been.

A panel in the wall suddenly moved aside and someone stumbled out and into the hallway. They looked around for a moment before stumbling towards Yuto and collapsing into his arms.

“Yuri!”

Yuri looked up at him with a lopsided smile, “Looks like my shortcut worked, I found you, thank goodness. Where’s everyone else?”

“They got held up and sent me on ahead. Yuri what happened you look like death warmed over.”

Yuri grabbed his collar with one hand, pulling his head down till they were almost nose-to-nose, Yuto nearly dropping him in surprise. “Yuto, you have to be careful when you duel anyone.”

“Yeah I know, Ed warned us. Sort of.”

“Then you know that they tie your life to your life points, and you can’t leave the duel until there’s an outcome.” Yuri shuddered and felt his legs give out and Yuto dropped down beside him, arms still around his middle. “But Yuto there’s more. The crystals in the duel disks, they’re Baria crystals!”

“What?”

“Well, synthetic ones anyways. Look,” he held up Dennis’ duel disk so he could see the line of violet gems. “Don’t touch them, they can drain us just by physical contact.” His hand shook and the duel disk slipped with a crash as he slumped against Yuto’s chest, eyes fluttering weakly. “Of course if you lose a duel, well, that’ll be the last thing you ever do.”

“Yuri don’t tell me you…”

He shook his head, “No, I won, but barely. But, I don’t think carrying that thing around did me any favours.”

Yuto’s hands trembled as he held Yuri, shifting him around as if to pick him up “No, no don’t you dare. We can fix this. I’ll just, get you to the Barian world, the energy there should heal you up.”

“It’s no use, I’ve lost too much energy, I’m afraid even the Barian world couldn’t help me now. Your optimism is appreciated, but misplaced. It’s too late for me. Perhaps, if I hadn’t carried that thing all the way to find you I might have had a chance. But going back now, that would prolong the inevitable I’m afraid. I’m dying Yuto.”

Yuto shifted his grip on Yuri so one arm was hooked around his shoulders, propping him up against his chest.

“Could you do something for me Yuto?” asked Yuri, tilting his head to look up at him.

“What?”

“Stay with me, please. I don’t want to…not alone.”

“Of course I would,” said Yuto, “What, did you think I would just leave you here? You’re my friend you idiot.”

“Friend?” Yuri raised an eyebrow and cracked a lopsided smile at him, a genuine smile for once. “Heh, who’d have thought I’d ever hear something like that from someone like you, an Xyz duelist. It’s…nice.” He grimaced in pain as he reached for his deck, dislodging it from his duel disk. “You have to warn Yuya about this, about the crystals and the danger they pose. And…I need you to get this to him,” he said, holding up a single card.

“Yuri this is…” Yuto tailed off as he took the cad from Yuri. “Starve Venom! Yuri I can’t!”

“You need to, because I won’t be able to.” He shuddered again and hissed in pain, “Now promise me ok?”

“I-But I’m already almost at the Professor.”

“Do you really think you can fight him alone? Do you really think you can beat him? Warn Yuya, and Yugo, and the girls. Get this to Yuya. We’re fighting him together remember?”

Yuto opened his mouth to speak but stopped when he realized he could no longer feel Yuri in his arms, and that he seemed to be surrounded in a faint, violet light.

“Yuri!”

“Thank you, Yuto. And tell everyone I’m sorry.” With a final heavy exhale he dissolved in a flash of violet light and Yuto found himself holding nothing but empty air.

“Yuri!”

 

Yuya stumbled and froze, bringing his hand to his chest as a strange feeling of emptiness entered him.

‘ _What was that?_ ’

“Yuya, you ok?” asked Yugo. “You’re looking a little bit spacey there.”

“Y-yeah, just a little light-headed from excitement I think.”

Yugo nodded, “Well come on, Rin’s found us a boat. Next stop, Duel Academy.”

“Ok, I’m coming.” He looked down at his hand as he pulled it away from his chest, what was that strange feeling? And why did it worry him so?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And then there were seven...


	75. Fusion Arc part 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Got absorbed into Duel Links and lost track of time  
> rip me

The You Show Duel School was a quiet place and while they needed to hurry, Yuzu was glad for the chance to take a breather and talk with Yusho, catching him up on everything that had happened.

Selena took the time to get to know Asuka better, to learn more about the school and how she came to be there.

Ruri spent some time wandering around and meeting the students, it wasn’t every day she got to meet people from the fusion dimension who weren’t trying to have her carded after all.

The peace however, was unceremoniously shattered.

“We’re under attack!”

The student stumbled though the halls, panting heavily as he grabbed the door frame for support, all heads turning to look at him.

“Out front, it’s, it’s him. He’s back.”

“Who’s back?” asked Yuzu.

Asuka narrowed her eyes, “Barrett.”

“Who’s that?”

“He’s an incredibly strong duelist,” said Selena. “One of Duel Academy’s best, and he was one of my guards. If he’s here then we’re in trouble.”

“We have to get everyone out,” said the student. “Because he’s not alone.”

Asuka nodded, “Start rounding everyone up so we can leave, I’ll go get Mr. Sakaki, they’re sure to be after him.”

“Let me take on Barrett,” said Selena. “I have a bone to pick with him.”

 

“I just need some rest I think,” said Selena as she hung off Asuka’s back. “I’m sure I’ll be fine.”

Asuka had been assisting Yusho, who walked with a limp (and slowly because of that) due to his injured leg, but he insisted that she carry Selena, the poor girl barely able to stand.

“Selena did you see what happened to him? He just vanished, right in front of us!” exclaimed Yuzu. “Duels aren’t supposed to do that to people. And his duel disk, what was that that came out and grabbed you?”

“It looked like some kind of duel anchor,” said Ruri. Several heads tuned in her direction and she continued, “Kaito uses them sometimes, when he’s hunting down duelists from Academia, it keeps your opponent from leaving the duel until there’s an outcome. Although, this time it looks like the only way you’re leaving the duel is if you win. If you lose, you’ll end up like Barrett.”

Yuzu shuddered, “Let’s hope we don’t have to duel like that again. That sounds, scary.”

“You can rest on the boat ride over Miss Selena,” said Yusho. “Save your strength up for later, if duels are going to be like this, you’re going to need it. We all will.”

“You have a boat?” asked Yuzu and he nodded with a smile.

“It’s not all that large or fancy but it’ll do us for what we need,” said Asuka. “Which is to get to Academia.”

“Let us hope we don’t encounter any more trouble on the way,” said Yusho, one hand holding onto his hat as they made their way down to the docks, the salty sea breeze whipping about them and tugging on loose clothes.

Selena groaned and rubbed her head, was this what it felt like to get memories back? Or was it just a side effect from all that energy drain? She wasn’t sure, because the memories had been flickering back in, bit by bit and bringing with them a dull ache in the back of her head. It was nowhere near as bad as Yuri’s had been, just enough to be a minor annoyance at best.

Carefully, Asuka set her on the deck of the boat, leaning he up against the wall. “You take it easy and rest, we’ll do the rest.”

“I don’t even think I could stand right now,” said Selena. She hoped that the exhaustion would pass before they got to Duel Academy

Asuka offered her a lopsided smile, “Just try not to get seasick.”

 

Yugo groaned as the boat bounced over the waves, hands gripping the railing tightly.

“Remind me never to ride one of these things again.”

“Not enjoying yourself?” asked Rin, who had taken the helm, after much deliberating on who would drive.

“He looks like he’s going to be sick,” said Yuya.

“Just, let me know when we reach near land,” groaned Yugo. “Please.”

“Just don’t pass out before then,” laughed Yuya, patting his back.

“No promises.”

Finding an unattended boat and stealing it had been the easy part, getting Yugo’s D-Wheel on board however and driving the boat were not nearly so. It took much maneuvering to wheel the bike onto it without being seen, which they nearly were several times, and once onboard they couldn’t decide who would drive.

Yugo wanted to, up until the boat started moving and he was on the floor. Rin took the wheel, leaving Yuya to play lookout and babysitter to Yugo.

“Are we even going in the right direction?” asked Yuya.

“God I hope so,” said Rin. “Or we’ll be driving straight out into the middle of the ocean.”

“What about if we follow that boat?” suggested Yuya, pointing out at a large ferry some distance ahead of them. “They have to be going somewhere, right?”

“What do you think Yugo? Should we follow it?”

“If you think it’ll get us to land faster then yes.” He groaned again as he held onto the railing, sinking to his knees on deck.

“Alright, then hold on!”

 

Selena rubbed her head as she looked up at the sky, her headache only growing worse.

‘ _Is this what Yuri went through?_ ’ she wondered, trying to ease the throbbing in her skull. Slowly but surely, her memories had been filtering back; a boat ride to Duel Academy, running through a garden with Yuri, being scolded for the same thing when they returned covered in dirt. It wasn’t enough to put her on the ground like Yuri, but it was painful enough.

‘ _I hope it passes soon,_ ’ she thought with a sigh. ‘ _Or I won’t be able to focus long enough to duel. Plus, I need to figure out what it was that Barrett did back there. I’ve never been in a duel that hurt so much in my life._ ’

Reaching into her pocket she pulled out a small handful of violet crystals, which she’d dislodged from Barrett’s duel disk after the duel had ended.

‘ _I wonder if these have anything to do with it. I’ve never seen them before, what are they?_ ’

“Are you feeling ok?” asked Yuzu, crouching down beside her. “You look a little under the weather.”

“Just a little tired, that’s all,” she said dismissively. “I promise. I’ll be fine by the time we reach land.”

“I hope so, we need your strength to do this.” Brushing her knees off, Yuzu stood up back, until Selena caught her arm.

“Yuzu, what do you make of these? I pulled them off Barrett’s duel disk. I’ve never seen anything like this on a duel disk before.” She held out her hand to show her the small crystals.

“Do you think they have something to do with why your duel was so different?” asked Yuzu. Nothing about Selena’s duel had been ordinary, from the duel anchor to the energy drain, to Barrett vanishing when he lost, it definitely took the top of the charts for the strangest duel Yuzu had ever seen.

“Maybe. I can’t imagine him, or the Professor, dressing up the duel disks with stuff like this for a fashion statement,” she said.

Yuzu reached out to touch one and shivered as it sent a chill through her.

“Can you see if Asuka knows anything?” asked Selena, turning her hand and dropping the crystals into Yuzu’s.

Yuzu nodded as she rose to her feet, heading across the deck to where Asuka stood.

“Miss Asuka, we were wondering if you could take a look at something,” said Yuzu. “We were hoping you might have some idea what these are, or what they might do.” She held her had out to show her the small violet stones. “Selena got them from Barrett’s duel disk after the duel.”

Asuka held out her hand and Yuzu eagerly dumped them into her palm, more than happy to get rid of them, they made her feel, wrong somehow, the sooner she rid of them the better.

“I’ve never seen anything like these before,” she said, picking one up and holding it up to the light.

Before she could continued, Ruri screamed.

“Ruri what’s wrong?”

Ruri trembled, looking over to Yuzu before pointing at Selena. “It’s Selena, she’s, vanishing.”

Instantly, Yuzu and Asuka’s heads snapped in her direction. Selena lay propped against the side of the boat, which could be seen through her body.

“I came over to check on her and she-she was like this,” she said. “I can’t even touch her anymore.”

“Oh-no, it’s just like with Barrett,” said Yuzu. “But why? She didn’t lose the duel she won, this isn’t supposed to happen! Selena, Selena!”

She stirred slightly, opening her eyes as she looked up at Yuzu, reaching out to her feebly. She made a grab at Yuzu’s hand, only for her own to fade through like a ghost.

“No, nonono, there has to be a way to stop this,” said Yuzu. “She can’t vanish too, we need her.”

“But there’s nothing we can do,” said Ruri. “We couldn’t stop Barrett from vanishing, how could we stop her?”

Yuzu looked back to Selena, tears beginning to mist in her eyes. “No, please no.”

“I’m sorry Yuzu,” she said softly, form growing lighter with each moment. “I’m sorry.”

There was a soft flash, and Selena was gone in a flurry of light particles.

 

For a moment, the sky above the Fusion dimension seemed to twist and warp and thin, faint lines spidered across the sky.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And then only 6 remained.
> 
>  
> 
> I wanted to write the Selena vs. Barrett duel, but I just brain derped and couldn't. And I didn't want to put the whole fic on hold while I tried to figure out how to write it. So uh, yeah.


	76. Fusion Arc part 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, look who's finally back from the zoo!
> 
> Sorry for the delay but here's the chapter :D

****

“I am never riding a boat again,” panted Yugo as he leapt out of the boat and onto the dock. “You will have to kill me before I do that.”

“It wasn’t that bad,” said Rin. “Now come on, we need to get your D-Wheel off the boat.”

Yugo groaned in displeasure.

“At least we’re here,” said Yuya. “Now we just need to find everyone else. They have to be here somewhere.”

“We should probably get out of sight in the mean time,” said Rin as she rolled the bike onto the dock. “We’re right in the heart of the Fusion dimension.”

 

Yuto panted as he ran, stopping to grab his knees as he doubled over to try and catch his breath. Dodging students wasn’t as easy as it seemed, everywhere he turned he seemed to find more of them, and a duel was the last thing he wanted to get dragged into. Not until he found Yuya, he needed to warn him about the synthetic crystals and what they could do. He didn’t have the disk anymore, having discarded it after Yuri had vanished. He wasn’t going to carry something that dangerous around.

He ducked behind a wall as a group of duelists rushed past him, duel disks drawn and ready for a fight.

‘ _I wonder what’s got them in such a hurry?_ ’ he thought. ‘ _It can’t be Shun._ ’ Shun’s group was, the last time he’d seen them, still stuck. With the barrier in place Yuto had had to take an alternate route out.

Straining to listen he caught snippets of conversation as they rounded the corner, a few words in particular sticking out to him.

‘Docks’

‘ _The docks? Why would they-_ Yuya!’

If it was Yuya then he was going to need to hurry, before Yuya ended up in over his head.

 

“I don’t even think we’re going to need this,” said Rin, leaning against the bike. “I mean, we’re gonna have to go IN to that school right? There won’t be any room to drive.”

“We have to get to it first,” said Yuya with a frown. “And past every duelist we come across.”

While they may have hit land, there was still quite a bit of land to cover before they reached the school itself, and the first obstacle was a sizable cliff.

“That’s what I’m worried about,” said Rin. “Three of us against all of them.”

“What about four?”

Yuya looked up at the sound of the voice, face lighting up. “Yuto!”

The Xyz duelist leapt down from the rocks above as Yuya ran to greet him.

“Finally we found you! But,” Yuya looked around and frowned, “Where’s everyone else? Did you get separated too?”

A pained look crossed Yuto’s face and he shook his head, “No, not exactly. Shun and the others were fighting Duel Academy warriors the last time I saw them but Yuri…” he trailed off, clenching his fists. “Yuri’s gone.”

“What do you mean gone?”

Yuto clenched his jaw, hands balling into fists at his sides, “I mean he’s gone, he’s dead!”

“How?”

“Duel Academy. Yuya, they have synthetic Baria crystals.”

“Synthetic?”

Yuto nodded, “They’re embedded in the duel disks and if you engage someone in a duel, you can’t leave unless you win. They drain you of life when you lose life points.”

“Wait, does that mean that Yuri lost?”

“No, but for some reason they drain us more than anyone else. And whatever you do, don’t touch them, they’ll suck the life right out of you. That’s what happened to Yuri.” Yuto glanced around and his frowned deepened. “Where are the girls? I thought they were with you?”

“So did we,” said Yuya, rubbing his arm. “I don’t know what happened, they were behind us but the portal did something strange and we got separated. If you haven’t seen them that means they’re not on the island yet.”

Yuto opened his mouth to respond but another sound stopped him, a sound that was not the pounding of waves on the shoreline. Footsteps, and lots of them.

“Looks like we have you surrounded!” came a voice from atop the cliffs around them.

Looking up Yuya felt his heart sink and his stomach knot, students from Duel Academy surrounded them from the rocks above, their duel disks drawn and ready for a fight.

“You know I’ve been itching for a fight,” said Yugo, cracking his knuckles.

“Didn’t you hear anything Yuto just said?” sputtered Yuya.

Yugo nodded, “Yeah, but some of us need to escape.” He looked towards Rin and smirked, “What do you think Rin? Think we can take these guys on?”

“Yugo you can’t!” exclaimed Yuya, grabbing the Synchro duelist by the shoulders. “What if you…”

“I won’t lose, but you and Yuto have to get out of here, got it?”

“I-”

“Yuto can you make a distraction?”

“Like what?”

Yugo shrugged, “I dunno, blow up some rocks I guess. Anything to distract them so you can escape.”

“I can do that.”

Yugo grinned before shoving Yuya towards him, “Good, then get on that and take him with you and go!” he said. “Rin and I will deal with these guys and meet up with you after.”

Yuya sputtered out a protest as Yuto grabbed his arm, hauling him away from the pair as they began to taunt the Fusion duelists around them.

“You may want to cover your ears Yuya,” warned Yuto.

Before Yuya could ask why, crackling energy shot off Yuto’s hand and the ground behind them exploded, throwing rocks and dust into the air and sending the students running for cover.

Yuto gave his arm a tug, pulling Yuya after him and through the dust cloud.

“I know a way in so just follow me,” he said, practically dragging Yuya behind him.

“But Yuto we can’t just leave them there.”

“We have to. Just trust them, they’ll join us. Now, we need to find everyone else before it’s to late.”

 

As the dust settled and the students surrounding them picked themselves back up, Yugo took a moment to look around and do a headcount before looking over to Rin.

“How many do you think there are? 5? 6?” he asked, hands in his hips.

“At least.”

“Think we can take’em?”

“I think we can hold them off long enough to give Yuya and Yuto a good head start,” said Rin.

Yugo nodded, readying his own duel disk as the uniformed students descended the rocks and surrounded them. “Then let’s do this.”

Six on two was a rather lopsided match up and Yugo had to admit, it was going to be a real test of their skills to get out of that one.

“Alright you Fusion using bastards, we’re taking you on, you’re not even worth our friend’s time!”

 

Yuzu couldn’t stop shaking, trembling like a leaf in a storm. Selena was gone, vanished in a flash of light just like Barrett. They were down by one and she wondered what that mean for them. Could they even still do this without her?

“This isn’t fair,” she said; drawing her knees up as she sat on the deck of the boat, back against the wall. “Why did she…why did she have to die? Selena won, she wasn’t supposed to vanish.”

Ruri sat down next to her, placing a hand on Yuzu’s arm comfortingly. “I don’t know, but I promise we won’t let her death be in vain.” She looked towards the approaching shoreline, face hard, “We won’t let anyone else die like this.”

 

“Please tell me there’s no more coming,” panted Sawatari as he sank to his knees. “I’m exhausted.” After splitting off from Yuto they’d taken on the three students, only for more to show up not long after.

“I don’t see any,” said Shun. “But I think we should try to find Yuto and Yuri and regroup, I don’t like this.”

Gongenzaka nodded, “Agreed. We’ll have more strength if we stick together.”

Sawatari whined as he picked himself back up. “We don’t even know where they are.”

“Let’s retrace our steps, we’re sure to find them that way,” said Shun.

Unfortunately, retracing their steps in an unfamiliar location was easier said than done and several wrong turns later they found themselves outside, and not in the courtyard they’d been in earlier.

From their vantage point they could see the ocean and the ships out on it as they came towards the island.

“What’s the chance those are allies?” asked Sawatari.

“Not very good.”

“So what do we do?” asked Gongenzaka, crossing his arms over his chest.

“We wait.”

From their hidden lookout, they watched as the large boat pulled up to the dock and everyone onboard disembarked.

Gongenzaka’s eyes widened as a shock of pink hair came into view. “That looks like Yuzu!”

“And Ruri!” exclaimed Shun. Before they could stop him he took off, heading towards the beach.

“Hey wait for us!”

 

At the sound of approaching footsteps and voices Ruri tensed up, until a lanky figure stumbled into view.

“S-shun!” She slipped away from Yuzu, running towards her brother. It felt like ages since she’d last seem him.

“Ruri!” He caught her in his arms, pulling her to his chest in a tight hug.

“If you’re here, that means Yuto and Yuri are with you right?” she asked, looking up at him.

He shook his head, “Yuri got held up by Dennis, and we had to split up with Yuto.”

“We were, just going to find them,” panted Sawatari, grabbing his knees as he came to a stop to catch his breath, “when we saw you guys.”

“So then, you haven’t seen Yuya?” asked Yuzu.

“Should we have?” asked Sawatari.

“He, Yugo and Rin got separated from us when we came here,” said Yuzu, “We don’t know where they are.”

“Then we need to find Yuto and Yuri, to warn them,” said Ruri.

“So you know about the new features I take it?” asked Shun.

Yuzu nodded, “Selena…she’s gone. We have to warn the rest. Do you know where Yuto is?”


	77. Fusion Arc part 9

“I still don’t think we should have left Yugo and Rin alone,” said Yuya.

“We didn’t have a choice,” replied Yuto. “If we stayed we’d all be dead, and then who would fight the Professor?”

“I know.” Yuya clenched his hand, “I’m just worried. This place is crawling with duelists, we can’t lose anyone else.”

Yuto held his hand out, pulling Yuya up onto the ledge, “Let’s just work on finding the girls. The more people we have the better.”

As Yuya landed on the ledge Yuto yanked him to the side and raised a finger to his lips and gestured upwards with his head. As they stood there, backs pressed to the rocks, a group of students walked past, talking loudly and gesturing animatedly with their hands.

“And let’s not get caught,” he added quietly. “That won’t do us any good.” He placed a hand on Yuya’s shoulder and offered him a gentle smile, “Have faith in them Yuya.”

 

Yugo wasn’t sure if he should be pleased with himself or horrified. On one hand, they had won, and fairly easily, on the other had that had meant watching their opponents just vanish before their eyes.

“Am I allowed to feel, conflicted about this Rin?” he asked. “I know they’re the enemy and all, but I never wanted to _kill_ anyone. Knock’em around maybe but not kill them.”

“That’s why we’re here, to put an end to all of this. To stop the Professor,” said Rin. “Now let’s go catch up to Yuya and Yuto, they’re going to need our help seeing how we’re down a man now.”

“We should get going then,” said Yugo, “And stop standing around here. This place gives me the creeps.” He held his hands out to Rin, “Help me up please? My legs are shaking so badly I can’t even pull myself up.” At the duel’s end his legs had just given out and he’d sunk like a stone.

She laughed and grabbed his hands, “Alright you big baby, but don’t expect me to carry you.”

“Who said anything about walking?” Yugo jabbed his thumb over his shoulder at the D-Wheel, “We can ride, it’s much faster. It’s not like Yuya and Yuto couldn’t have gotten that far.”

“A lot farther than you’re going to be getting!”

Yugo groaned and threw his arms in the air, “Oh come on, there’s more of you people? How’d they even know we were here?”

“No idea, but let’s deal with them and get to Yuya.”

“We’re not scared of you!” called Yugo, duel disk flashing to life. “We’ll take you all on!”

 

Yuya couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. With each step he took he kept feeling like he was going to put his foot down and find nothing there, that the ground was unstable and going to fall away at any moment. Except it was solid, perfectly solid and not going anywhere.

“Say Yuto, does something feel, wrong?” he asked.

“Wrong?”

Yuya nodded, “Yeah, like something’s off. I don’t know how to explain it. I keep feeling like the ground is going to be gone when I put my foot down.”

“So you feel it too,” said Yuto. When Yuya gave him a questioning look he continued, “I’ve been feeling it for a little bit, but I thought it was my imagination. But if you can feel it too…”

“What do you think it is?” asked Yuya.

“I don’t know.”

Yuya looked around, a chill rolling down his spine. Something just felt off and he wished he knew what.

Raising a hand to shield his eyes, Yuya glanced at the sky and froze. Thin, violet lines spidered across the sky like cracks, cracks that cut through even the clouds.

“Yuto, what is that?” he asked, grabbing his sleeve and pointing.

“I…” Yuto opened his mouth but no sound came out as he stared at the cracks, which suddenly spread out farther, violet light seeming to pour out of them.

“The sky is cracking,” said Yuya. “Oh no.”

“Yuya? What is it?”

“It’s what Zarc told me, about the dimensional pillars. If Yuri’s gone…” Yuya shook his head. “It’s unstable, it won’t be able to hold up.”

“So the dimension is falling apart then?”

Yuya nodded, “Probably, which means we’re running out of time.”

 

Yugo groaned, fingers inches of Rin’s as he lay in the dirt, panting heavily. He couldn’t lose, not here, not now. He had to get to Yuya, to kick The Professor’s butt, he wasn’t about to die there. But his limbs wouldn’t respond, wouldn’t move. It felt like his entire body had turned to lead.

They’d tried, they really had, but the second wave of duelists was stronger than the first and very soon they’d been backed into a corner, unable to escape.

“I’m sorry Rin,” he said, reaching feebly towards her.

“It’s not your fault Yugo,” she said, attempting to prop herself up as she reached for his hand, only to fall back to the ground.

“I wonder what they’re waiting for, why haven’t they carded us yet?” He groaned as he tried to pull himself up, falling into the dirt in the process.

Their opponents were just standing there, watching as the downed Synchro duelists lay on the ground, forms beginning to fade with each passing moment.

“Don’t you remember what Yuto said?’ asked Rin. “They don’t have to.” She closed her eyes as she smiled at Yugo, fingertips mere inches from his, “I’m sorry Yugo.”

“Rin no!” With a grunt Yugo hauled himself over the ground, reaching weakly for her hand. “Rin…” He collapsed again, hand passing through hers as he hit the ground. “Rin, I’m sorry.”

 

“Yuya are you ok?” Yuya had gone very quiet all of a sudden, stopping midsentence and Yuto was worried. Looking back he saw Yuya standing there, hand against his chest as a tear slid down his cheek. “Yuya?”

“It’s Yugo. He’s…gone. I can’t feel his presence any more,” said Yuya softly. “We never should have left him there.”

“What do you mean his presence?”

“Just what it sounds like, I can always feel you guys when you’re nearby and I-I can’t feel Yugo any more. Which means he and Rin probably…” Yuya trembled, clenching his fist tightly. “This isn’t fair.”

“We didn’t have a choice, if we had stayed we would have met the same fate as Yugo and Rin.” He placed a hand on Yuya’s shoulder, “We have to keep moving, for them.”

 

The quiet of the Synchro dimension was interrupted by an all mighty groaning and creaking sound as the very air seemed to twist and warp violently and everything seemed to shake, as if it were being rocked by a violent earthquake.

Crow grabbed the kids as they lost their footing, pulling them close to his side. “Don’t worry, it’ll be over soon,” he said reassuringly, trying to keep them calm, the kids trembling as they held onto him.

Screams of fear filled the air as people ran for cover, or clung to those closes to them. The kids clinging to Crow clenched their eye shut in fear, hiding their faces in his side as they whimpered.

As the groaning, creaking and shaking died out there was a sound like something being torn in two, like the ripping of a large piece of fabric.

Crow was the first to look around, still holding the kids close, and what he saw made him frown. Despite the noise and the sensation of everything being rocked violently, there wasn’t a sign of any damage. An earthquake that didn’t cause damage, that was beyond weird.

Timidly, Amanda raised her head to look around, still clinging tightly to Crow’s side. It was quiet so it had to be safe now right?

“Look Crow, there’s an island in the sky!” she said, grabbing Crow’s hand and pointing.

“What are you talking about Amanda?” asked Crow.

“Yeah, I see it too!” exclaimed Tanner, now looking as well. “And an ocean too!”

With a frown Crow turned his gaze skyward and looked in the direction they were pointing. His eyes widened in shock at the sight that he saw. It was as if someone had torn a hole in the sky, and in the center of it was the image of the ocean and an island situated in the middle of it.

“What-what the hell is that? Just what is going on here?”

 

Yuya had just started walking again, slipping his hands into his pockets when his fingers brushed against something, something that shouldn’t have been there.

“What is…” He slipped his hand in and grabbed the object, a card by the feel of it, and felt his stomach knot when he saw what it was.

“Yuya what’s wrong?” asked Yuto. “We have to keep moving. Yuya!”

Clutching the card Yuya dropped to his knees as tears spilled free. Held tightly in his hand was Clear Wing Synchro Dragon, a pale light fading away from it, and for a moment, Yuya swore he heard a faint, echoing cry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Synchro falls and only four remain.


	78. Fusion Arc part 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Something a bit softer after that last chapter

It was decided that Shun’s group would join up with Yusho and Asuka and continue on to the Professor, while Yuzu and Ruri would go and search for Yuto and Yuri before meeting backup with them, and praying that Yuya and the rest would find them on their own.

Shun had suggested they just call Yuto, until Asuka told him the same thing that Selena had told the girls, that opening communications like that would allow them to be tracked, they would have to do this blind.

Shun told them the last place he’d seen Yuto and Yuri and gave Ruri a quick hug before the group split, Yuzu and Ruri heading one way while Shun’s group headed off with Asuka and Yusho.

“Do you think Yuto’s ok?” asked Ruri.

“He’s with Yuri, I’m sure they’re fine,” said Yuzu. “But I’m worried about Yuya, what if he doesn’t know about all this yet, about the duel disks? He might get into a duel and…” she trained off, wringing her hands nervously. “And we don’t even know where he is.”

“Don’t worry, I’m sure he’s fine,” said Ruri, giving Yuzu’s hands a gentle squeeze.

“I hope so.”

 

“So how do you know The Professor, Mr. Sakaki?” asked Shun.

Yusho sighed, leaning on his cane as he limped along, “He’s an old friend of mine,” he said. “But…I never expected him to go this far. I only hope I’m not to late to talk him out of this.”

“Talk to him? He destroyed our home!” sputtered Sawatari. “He doesn’t need to be talked to, he needs to have his butt kicked. We didn’t come to talk, we came to fight!”

Yusho looked down at him, eyes soft. “I hope it doesn’t come to that. There’s been enough fighting, enough death already. If I can talk to him then I will.” He placed a hand on Sawatari’s shoulder gently, “No one else should have to suffer. I want to end this without causing any more pain.”

 

Yuto had to haul Yuya back to his feet, his counterpart too shaken to stand on his own.

“Yuya we can’t stay here, we have to keep moving,” he said, holding Yuya’s shoulders tightly.

Yuya clenched his eyes shut, still holding Clear Wing in one hand. “What’s the point? We just keep losing people. Mom, Yuri, Yugo, Rin…How many more, how many more Yuto? How many do we have to lose before this ends?” Tears stung his eyes and he shook his head. “I can’t keep losing people.”

“Then let’s not stand around any longer,” said Yuto. “Let’s find The Professor and put an end to all of this, once and for all.”

“Yuto…”

“Shun and the rest are on the way there, that should be more than enough of us to take him on,” said Yuto. “But that won’t happen if we keep standing here. We have to do this, otherwise what will everyone have died for? Nothing. Don’t let it be in vain.”

“Yuto I…” Yuya started to speak, but trailed off as he caught sight of something over Yuto’s shoulder, or rather someone. “Yuzu!” Slipping out of Yuto’s hands he bolted towards her, heart racing in his chest. She was alive, alive and unharmed and right there.

“Yuya!”

They met half way, arms wrapping around each other tightly as they caught one another. Yuzu pressed her face into the crook of Yuya’s shoulder as tears of joy stung the corner of her eyes. “Oh Yuya I can’t believe it, you’re here.”

He squeezed her tightly, not daring to let go for a moment lest she vanish as well. “Thank goodness you’re ok,” he said, voice soft as he held her. “Thank goodness.”

From behind Yuya there was a cry of ‘Yuto!’ followed by a thud. Releasing each other, Yuya and Yuzu turned to see that Ruri had tackle-hugged Yuto, knocking him to the ground in the process.

“Yuto…” she trembled as she buried her face into his chest, clinging tightly to his shirt. “Oh thank god. You’re ok, I’m so glad.”

“Not if you keep tackling me like that I won’t be,” he laughed, propping himself up with his arms.

Yuya glanced around before frowning and turning back to Yuzu, “Where’s Selena, isn’t she with you?”

Almost instantly Ruri and Yuzu wilted, Ruri hiding her face into Yuto’s chest while Yuzu looked away.

“She’s gone,” said Yuzu finally. “Yuya the duel disks-“

“We know,” said Yuto. “Yuri’s gone too.”

“And Yugo and Rin,” added Yuya.

Yuzu gasped softly, covering her mouth, “So then, we’re the only ones left?”

“It looks like it,” said Yuya.

“Then we should get moving,” said Yuto, holding onto Ruri as he pulled himself to his feet. “Before we’re out of time. After all, now two dimension have become unstable.”

 

Adjusting his glasses Reiji stared up at the large door before him, Reira clinging tightly to his leg.

“Do stay behind me,” he said, striding towards the door and pushing it open. “Tsukikage, keep Reira safe if anything should happen to me.”

“Of course sir.”

“Now, it’s time I faced my father and put an end to this.”

Keeping the two behind him he strode into the room, duel disk drawn and ready.

“Father! Show yourself, it’s time you answered for what you‘ve done!”

From the far end of the room a chair spun around and the figure in it stood up, silently descending the stairs towards them.

“So, even my own son stands against me now?”

“You lost the right to call me that when you abandoned me, abandoned us!” Reiji held his ground, blade on his disk flashing to life.

Akaba Leo sighed, “If this is how it must be, then so be it.” He raised his arm, his own duel disk flashing to life.

Reiji sighed and closed his eyes, “It is.”

 

Yuya kept finding his gaze drawn back to the cracks in the sky, cracks he swore spread even farther each time he looked at them. The dimension was falling apart and there was nothing they could do. Even if they could stop the Professor in time then what? The Fusion dimension and the Synchro dimension had lost the pillars, they were falling apart, collapsing. Everyone living in them was doomed.

A soft noise caught Yuya’s attention and he looked around, it sounded like someone had whispered in his ear.

“Did you say something Yuzu?” he asked.

He shook her head, “No, why?”

“Ah, it’s nothing. It’s just my imagination, this place is just unnerving that’s all.”

The sound hadn’t been clear, a muffled and distant sound like the speaker was far away.

“Oh, Yuya I forgot to tell you, your dad’s here, on the island!”

“He’s-he’s here?” he asked, turning to Yuzu.

She nodded, “He came here from the Xyz dimension. He’s on his way to see The Professor right now,” she said.

“But why is Mr. Sakaki going to see the Professor?” asked Yuto.

“He’s hoping to talk to him,” said Yuzu. “They were friends once, I think he’s hoping to talk him down.”

“Somehow I don’t think he wants to talk,” said Yuto with a frown. “Not with what he’s already done.”

“Then we have to keep moving,” said Yuya. “Before this dimension falls apart.”

“What do you think happens when a dimension falls apart?” asked Ruri. “Will everyone just, die?”

Yuto grabbed her hand reassuringly, “I don’t know. And I don’t want to find out.”

As they talked, Yuya rubbed at his ear, there it was again, that same, whispering sound. He looked around, trying to see if someone was there.

“Hey Yuto, do you know how to get to The Professor?” asked Yuya, hoping that noise would take his mind off the strange sound.

“Yuri told me,” said Yuto with a nod. “Just keep following me. Once we get inside it’ll be straightforward.”

“Good, the sooner we get there the better,” said Yuya. “I don’t like what’s happening to this dimension.”


	79. Fusion Arc part 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And a familiar face makes a return :}
> 
> EDIT: I tweaked a few lines in a previous chapter. Nothing major but added in something I intended to add in.  
> If you want to read and spot the edits, boom->  
> http://archiveofourown.org/works/6650458/chapters/24551616

The Barian World was quiet for the most part as the spirits dwelling within in milled about in peace. Until the peace was split by an ear shattering tearing sound and the sky torn asunder as a hole opened up, violet light emanating from within.

 

Yuya stumbled, grabbing at his chest with one hand as a stabbing pain lanced through him. As he looked up to ask what had happened he noticed Yuto grabbing at the wall with one had as he doubled over in apparent pain as well. And not just Yuto, Ruri and Yuzu also seemed to be hurting as well, arms wrapped around themselves and faces screwed up in pain.

“What’s happening?” asked Yuto through clenched teeth.

As Yuya clutched his chest he heard it, a faint screaming sound, like someone howling in pain. No, it didn’t sound like one voice but a cacophony of voices all crying out in pain.

“I think it might be…the Barian world,” gasped Yuya, waiting for the sensation to fade.

“What do you mean?” asked Yuto.

“Don’t you remember, when Obelisk Force broke through the first time, it felt just like this,” said Yuya.

Yuto winced as he forced himself to stay on his feet, “But we only felt this inside the dimension. The others, they said they hadn’t felt anything when they were in Standard. Why would we feel it now?”

“Maybe it’s because the dimensions are falling apart?” suggested Ruri, “And now we’re closer to it? But, Yuto does this mean that Obelisk Force is in the Barian World?”

Yuto shook his head, “I don’t know, but if The Professor has access to Baria crystals he might try. He wants power, and the Barian world is full of it.”

“Then we need to go in and stop him,” said Yuya. “Before he hurts any more people. I don’t want to know what will happen to us if anything happens to the Barian world.”

“No!” shouted Yuto, stopping Yuya in his tracks. “We don’t have time!”

“But–“

“I’ll go, you take the girls and go on ahead. If it’s just Obelisk Force I can deal with them, you need to stop The Professor here,” said Yuto.

“I’m not letting you go alone!” Yuya, Yuto and Yuzu turned to look at Ruri, who had grabbed Yuto’s arm. “I’m coming with you Yuto.”

“Ruri…”

“Don’t ‘Ruri’ me. I’m tired of losing people and I’m tired of running, I won’t let you go alone Yuto.” She squeezed his arm, “I’m coming with you. And there’s nothing you can say or do to change my mind.”

Yuto sighed, there was no changing her mind now, not now that she’d decided on something and was sticking to it. “Alright, you and I will check out the Barian World. Yuya, you and Yuzu go on ahead, we’ll catch up with you.”

“I don’t know the way!”

“Just keep going down this hall till you reach the large doors. Yuri said you couldn’t miss them. The Professor should be there,” said Yuto, pointing down the hall.

“I don’t like it but, alright.”

Stepping away from the wall, Yuto staggered over to Yuya, pulling something out of his pocket. “Yuri asked me to give this to you before he…” he trailed off and shook his head, “He want you to have this, so take it.”

Yuya looked down and frowned, it was a card, one with a violet border and a familiar dragon in the middle “Yuto this is…this is Starve Venom!”

He nodded, “Yeah, now take it. It won’t do me any good.”

Carefully Yuya took the card from him and Yuto walked back to Ruri, “I guess we’ll see you in a bit then.”

“Be careful Yuto.”

“Just take care of yourselves,” said Yuto, before vanishing through a portal with Ruri.

 

The first thing Yuto noticed upon stepping into the Barian World was that the pain was even worse than before. It seemed to come upon him from all sides, like needles and knives being jabbed into his skin. He almost fell to the ground, arms wrapped around his middle as the pain overwhelmed him, but Ruri caught him.

“Yuto, look at the sky,” she said, her gaze turning upwards. “It really is in pain.”

Yuto followed her gaze upward and felt his stomach sink.

The once beautiful sky looked as if it had been torn apart, a horrible violet slash tearing through the shimmering gold, and the normally white sun, the ‘heart’ of the Barian World, throbbed blood red.

“They really are here then,” he said, wincing in pain as he moved. “And it’s worse then before. I hope we can actually stop this.”

“Yuto, I had a thought,” said Ruri, brassy wings twitching slightly.

“What is it?”

“You said they have synthetic Baria crystals right? And so that’s probably how they got in. And, you said those can drain us just by touching them right?”

Yuto nodded, “That’s right. What are you getting at Ruri?”

“Yuto, what do you think would happen if they brought those crystals, into this world?”

Yuto’s eyes widened at the realization and felt a chill roll down his spine.

“Come on, we need to find them and end this now,” he said, taking Ruri’s hand as he started walking.

 

Yuya stared at the space where Ruri and Yuto had been before shaking himself, they were going to be fine, they had to be.

“I hope this isn’t a mistake,” said Yuzu. “I don’t want to lose anyone else.”

“None of us do,” said Yuya, placing a hand on her shoulder. “I guess, we’ll just have to keep moving then. Until he gets back.”

As he slipped Starve Venom into his pocket the card slipped and he noticed something, something he hadn’t noticed before during the confusion. A dark border peeked out from behind the Fusion dragon, a border that was decidedly not from a fusion card.

“Yuto, no, why?” Shifting Starve Venom aside he felt his stomach sink at the sight of the card situated behind it, Dark Rebellion.

“What is it Yuya?” asked Yuzu.

“He left Dark Rebellion with me, but why, why would he do that?”

“Maybe he thought you could keep it safe?” she suggested.

“But he needs it to fight, why would he…” Yuya shook his head again, no he wasn’t even going to entertain that kind of a thought, Yuto was going to come back and he was going to fight The Professor with him. He had to.

‘ _Don’t worry, I’ll keep it safe till your return,_ ’ he thought.

“Come on Yuzu, let’s keep moving, we can at least make sure the rest of the Lancers don’t take him on alone.”

She nodded, slipping her hand into Yuya’s. “Then let’s get going.”

The hall way was long and, as far as Yuya was concerned, boring. There were doors sure, but they were small and obviously not what he was looking for, and he didn’t have time to appreciate the designs on the walls.

The big doors, that was what Yuto had said, big ones he couldn’t miss.

His concentration was momentarily broken by the sound of another pair of footsteps coming down an adjacent hallway. It didn’t sound like any more than one person, so who ever it was, was alone. A single person they could deal with if it came to a fight, but Yuya hoped that it wouldn’t.

He squeezed Yuzu’s hand as they stopped, staring down the dark hall, waiting for whomever it was to show themselves, or say something.

“Yuya, is that you?” asked the voice in the shadows.

His heart skipped a beat as joy flooded his veins and a smile crack across his face, he knew that voice even if he hadn’t heard it for a while.

“Sora!”

“Funny seeing you here, Yuya.”

Yuya froze as the voice from the shadows reached his ears, excitement turning to dread, something was so very wrong. Something about his voice sounded, off.

“S-sora?”

“Aww, so you do remember me.” He sauntered from the shadows, hands in his pockets. An almost wicked looking grin adorned his face as he looked at Yuya. “Oh don’t look so surprised Yuya, surely you knew you’d see me again. Right?”

The way he talked, walked, even the way he grinned, it was all, wrong somehow.

“Sora you’re…you’re alright?” he asked, taking a step towards him, hand slipping from Yuzu’s. “They didn’t hurt you? You managed to get away?” The fact that Sora was alive had to be a good thing, they hadn’t carded him after Dennis had dragged him back; he was well and truly alive.

“Oh, so now you’re worried about me?”

Yuya frowned, “What are you talking about? We never stopped worrying after you got taken. You’re our friend Sora.”

Sora’s grin turned into a scowl of contempt, “You have a funny way of showing that, abandoning me the way you did.”

Yuya hesitated, what was Sora talking about, they hadn’t abandoned him; he’d been kidnapped right in front of them.

“Your new friends were more important than me huh? Just leave me in their claws right.” His face twisted into a snarl, “Have you any idea what they did to me Yuya?” Yuya opened his mouth to respond by Sora kept going, “You think I wasn’t hurt? Please, they practically tortured me. Have you any idea how much it hurts to have someone dig into you memories? No, of course you wouldn’t. You just threw me away for your new Barian friends.”

“That’s not what happened at all,” protested Yuzu. “You were taken before we could do anything, we were-we couldn’t do anything.” Dug into his memories, it sounded more like they’d messed with them. They hadn’t let him get taken away, he’d been snatched while they’d been downed from a ripple of Barian energy.

“Liars, you abandoned me, you let them take me! And then you let them hurt me because you never came for me! Well I learned something, there’s only one person in this world you can count on and that’s yourself!” The violet, sword-shape blade materialized from his duel disk as he faced Yuya.

A line of glimmering violet stones set in the body of the disk caught Yuya’s attention and he felt his breath catch in his throat, the warnings he’d been giving coming back to him.

‘ _They have synthetic Baria crystals!_ _If you engage someone in a duel, you can’t leave unless you win. They drain you of life when you lose life points._ ’

“Sora stop, don’t do this, don’t you know what that does? Don’t you know what’ll happen when someone loses?”

“Of course I do. I’m going to make sure you can’t run away from our duel this time, and then I’m going to crush you and make you hurt just like I did! And then it’ll be your turn Yuzu.”

Blue tendrils of energy leapt from the stones on Sora’s duel disk and wrapped around Yuya’s arm like a chain before they vanished.

“Now duel me Yuya!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When writing, do you ever have those idea that you just know are going to happen? Even from the beginning?  
> Sora was one of those things, I knew pretty much from the get go that brainwashed!Sora vs Yuya was going to happen during the climax of the fic.  
> And I've been setting up for this since Dennis encountered Sora and Yuri in Standard during the tournament arc.  
> And now, the pay off finally comes. :D


	80. Fusion Arc part 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so the duel begins!
> 
> And yes, it's supposed to parallel their first duel.

Yuya clenched his jaw as he stared across the field at Sora, he hadn’t want to get into a duel with him, not like this. If he won it meant Sora would die, and he couldn’t bear the thought of losing another friend, let alone by his hand. But if he lost then he would die, and he couldn’t afford that, not now, not when they were already down by so many.

“Sora you can end this!” called Yuya, “Please, we don’t have to fight!”

“Yes we do!” His face twisted into a grim snarl and Yuya shivered, taking a step back.

They’d done something to him, they had to have, but what could he have done to change him so badly?

“I’m sorry that they hurt you Sora, I never wanted this to happen!”

“Like you cared, if you cared you would have come for me, but you never did. Now make your move! I’m being gracious and letting you go first, not that it’ll matter.”

Yuya looked down at the cards in his hand and frowned. “I-I summon Entermate Discover Hippo, and, I end my turn,” said Yuya bitterly as the cheery pink hippo bounced onto the field.

This wasn’t right, wasn’t fair, forcing him to fight his own friend like this, in a duel where one of them could die. If only he could snap Sora out of it, then maybe, maybe they could find a way to end the duel without any one getting hurt.

“I activate Toypot, and I shouldn’t have to explain to you what it does, so I’ll go ahead and activate its effect. And would you look at that, it’s my Furnimal Bear!”

The familiar pink stuffed animal materialized on the field, but it wasn’t alone for long. “And here’s another face you’ll recognize, Furnimal Leo!” The small lion flapped its wings as it landed on the field next to Sora, the juxtaposition unsettling at best. “And now Leo, attack his obnoxious hippo and rid the field of that eye sore!”

With a roar the lion charged across the field, claws already out as it bore down on the hippo.

“Don’t forget, this is still an action field,” called Yuya as he held up a card he’d grabbed. “I activate the Action Spell Evade! Your attack stops dead.”

Sora growled, hands balling into fists at his sides as Leo stopped in its tracks and trotted back to his side of the field. “Well you won’t get lucky twice, I attack with my bear!”

Yuya looked around quickly, unlike their very first duel there were fewer cards to find and use and the field was just a bunch of floating platforms. Spotting a card atop one of them he raced towards it, arm outstretched.

Discover Hippo screeched as the bear’s paw came down on it and Yuya stumbled, nearly falling off the platform as he was rocked by a wave of pain as somewhere behind him the hippo vanished.

Yuya buckled, gasping as he held himself. So that was what he’d meant by tying his life to his life points. And it hurt too, now he was really going to have to be careful.

Yuzu covered her mouth in horror, watching as Yuya stumbled, even though he’d never even been touched by the attack.

“Oh Yuya be careful.”

Sora snarled, “I’ll set a card and end my turn.”

“Using my Scale 1 Stargazer Magician and Scale 8 Timegazer Magician I set the Pendulum scale!”

The word PENDULUM flashed across his disk in a rainbow of letters as the two monsters appeared on either side of Yuya in pillars of blue light.

_Swing! Pendulum of Souls!_  
Draw an arc of light across the ether!  
Pendulum Summon!  
Come forth!  
My monsters!

 

“Come forth, Entermate Swordfish, Entermate Skeet Skimmer and Odd Eyes Pendulum Dragon!”

Three streaks of light short forth as he called forth his monsters, Odd Eyes landing with a ground shaking thud beside him.

“Now I activate Swordfish’s effect, and lower your lion’s attack points by 600!” A light enveloped the fish and the lion, the latter apparently wincing as its life points dropped. “Now Odd Eyes, attack Furnimal Leo!”

The dragon roared, shimmering red flames licking at its jaws as it lowered its head. “Spiral Strike Burst!”

“I don’t think so! I activate my face down spell, Stop Hammer! It stops your attack and lowers your Odd-Eyes attack by 500 points!”

A comically large hammer sprang up, a hand with the word ‘Stop’ in the center of it materialized and grabbed Odd-Eyes, wrapping and is muzzle and quenching the flames before they could leave its jaws.

“Sora please, you have to listen to me!” yelled Yuya. “I wanted to look for you I really did. But I-I didn’t know. I didn’t know where to find you. I’m sorry I didn’t come for you, but you have to stop this, you’re our friend Sora!”

“He’s telling the truth Sora I swear!” cried Yuzu. “Please, you don’t have to fight us. Can’t you remember what happened?”

“Of course I remember, I remember you abandoning me to Dennis. You didn’t make a move to save me, you just let him take me!” Sora shook as he spoke, sounding somewhere between angry and hurt. “So now it’s your turn to hurt!”

Yuya clenched his fists as he looked at Sora, nothing the said seemed to be getting through to him.

‘ _They’ve tampered with his memories somehow, they had to have,_ ’ he thought. ‘ _But how? And how do I get him back?_ ’

“If you’re done spewing lies, I’d like to take my turn,” said Sora. He looked at the card in his had and smirked, “Well would you look at that? I activate the spell card Fusion and fuse together the Leo on my field with the Edge Imp Saw in my hand!”

 

_Steel blades possessed by demons._

_Become one with the fanged beast, and show us a new form and power!_

_Fusion Summon!_

_Show yourself!_

_King of the hundred beasts that tears everything to pieces!_

_Deathtoy Wheelsaw Leo!_

 

The monster that appeared from the whirring blades and clumps of stuffing could only be called a horror show. Where there should have been a mane was a single, whirring saw blade with smaller, circular saws adorning the outside. It’s claws looked to be chunks of saw blade while its body seemed to have been bisected down the middle by a large saw blade.

“Isn’t he to die for?” asked Sora with a monstrous grin. “And wait till you see his effect! I can target one monster on the field and destroy it! And then deal you damage equal to its attack points, so I choose your Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!”

Yuya froze, only able to watch in horror as the nightmare lion bore down on his poor dragon, slicing it to ribbons with its saw blades. Then the effect damage hit and Yuya dropped like a stone, screeching in pain as 2000 points of damage were ripped from his life points in one fell swoop, plunging his life down to 1600.

“Hurts doesn’t it?” asked Sora as Yuya gasped from where he lay.

Yuya shut his eyes, Sora still had two attacks left and it didn’t matter which monster he attacked, there was no way he would make it out alive. Action cards were his only hope, and he ached too much to stand up, let alone go search for them. He was a goner, and Yuzu was going to be next.

“I think that’s more than enough for one turn,” said Sora.

Yuya’s eyes snapped open and he looked across the field to Sora, who simply set a card as he ended his turn. He hadn’t attacked him? Why not, he could have won the duel, one attack from his new monster would have cinched the duel, so why let him live another turn?

“You didn’t attack?” asked Yuya as he slowly picked himself off the ground. “Why, you-you could have won?”

“I told you, I want to make you hurt, and you haven’t hurt enough yet. But, it’s no fun if I end it here, so you get to live another turn.”

“I don’t think that’s it at all,” said Yuya, swaying as he rose to his feet. “I think the Sora I know is still in there, and he doesn’t want to defeat me.”

“You’re delusional,” laughed Sora coldly. “All I want is to see you suffer for what you did to me.”

“But I’m not the one who hurt you!” snapped Yuya. “You said it yourself, it was Academia who hurt you. Even if I did leave you, they were the ones that hurt you Sora, so shouldn’t they be the ones made to pay?”

For a moment Sora hesitated and Yuya wondered if his words had struck something within him, if he’d finally reached the Sora that he knew. Then he grimaced and shook his head, blue hair whipping about. “You’re just trying to confuse me a-and put the blame on someone else!”

“I won’t fight you Sora!”

“So you’re just a coward then!”

Yuya clenched his teeth, he didn’t want to have to do this, but he was being left with no choice.

“Using the set Pendulum scale I summon Odd-Eyes back to my field. Come forth once again Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!” Once again, Odd-Eyes lunged onto the field, roaring and shaking its head. “I activate the effect of my Sword Fish, and lower your Death-Toy Leo’s attack by 600 points, and then I attack it with my Odd Eyes!”

Revived from the extra deck, Odd-Eyes’ attack points had been restored to normal, now giving it more attack points that Sora’s fusion monster.

“I activate my trap, Death-Toy Backup! It negates the destruction of my monster and gives it an additional 800 attack points!”

A barrier of pink light surrounded the monster and Odd-Eyes’ flame passed harmlessly around it, a few sparks falling and landing at Yuya’s feet.

“And since my monster now has more attack points, you take damage instead!”

Yuya winced as the sparks ate away another 100 life points.

What was it going to take to get through to Sora? It seemed like nothing he said was getting through, all Sora wanted to do was fight him.

He sighed, “I end my turn.”

Sora sighed, shrugging, “Man, you’re making this too easy, it’s kinda pathetic. Whatever, it’ll be over soon. I’ll discard the card I just drew to activate my Toypot spell card again, let’s see what I get.” Sora looked at the card he’d drawn and his face twisted into a cruel grin. “Oh, I think you’re going to like this little card,” he said. “I special summon Parasite Fusioner!”

The creature that materialized on the field was definitely not one that should have been in Sora’s deck, being neither a Furnimal nor Edge Imp. It looked like some kind of bug with a round red-brown body and long thin tail. Several red eyes blinked from atop its head and it skittered about on six pointed legs.

“What is that?” asked Yuya. “Sora, why do you have a monster like that?”

“You know what happens when I special summon this card Yuya?” he asked, “Why don’t you watch and learn. I activate my Parasite’s special effect! Since I special summoned it I can use it and the monsters on my field to perform a fusion summon! So, I use my Death Toy Leo, Furnimal Bear and Parasite Fusioner to fusion summon!”

 

_Show yourself!_

_Wild ghost-cave beast that bares fangs at all!_

_Deathtoy Sabre Tiger!_

 

Yuya’s face paled as the three monsters vanished, replaced by a large, tiger-like creature. It looked like someone had haphazardly stitched together a plush tiger, the thread barely holding it together. The jaws opened to reveal a set of sharp looking teeth, and a pair of eyes glowing deep within the cavernous maw. Blades jutted out of it from every side, glinting in the dim light of the hall.

The parasite reappeared, settling onto the tiger’s head with a sickening clicking sound.

“Did I forget to tell you? I can equip the parasite onto the new monster! And now I activate my Sabre Tiger’s effect, I can summon back any Death Toy in my Graveyard, so say hello once again to my Death Toy Leo!”

Yuya took a step back as the fusion monster reappeared, flanking Sora.

“First I’ll activate my Leo’s effect and take out your Swordfish!”

The fish looked around, shrieking in fear as saw blade materialized around it and Yuya had to avert his gaze and it was torn to pieces, his life points dropping once again. “This is your end Yuya! Now die! Sabre Tiger, take out his Odd-Eyes now!”

Yuzu covered her mouth in horror, watching at the creature lunged towards Yuya and his Odd-Eyes.

“Yuya!”


	81. Fusion Arc part 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And the conclusion to the duel.
> 
> Sorry, Yuto and Ruri are next week.

Fighting against the stinging sensation in his limbs, Yuya leapt onto Odd-Eyes’ back, grabbing the spines as the dragon began to move. His only hope of surviving the turn was if he could get an Action Card, before the attack connected.

“Sora please, you have to stop this!” he yelled as Odd Eyes bounded across the field, leaping from platform to platform. “This isn’t you! I know my friend is still in there, I know you can hear me!”

“Sora please,” begged Yuzu, “We don’t want to fight you, please, stop this.”

For a moment Sora’s attention was pulled away from Yuya and his monster as he looked at Yuzu.

“Yuzu…” He trailed off as he grabbed his head, fingers lacing through his hair. “No, no you abandoned me too, you stood by and let them take me!”

“That’s not true and you know it Sora, we tried, we tried to stop him but we couldn’t. Please don’t do this, don’t do something you’ll regret!”

“Got it!”

Sora spun around to see Yuya holding up an action card, a grin splitting his face. “The duel isn’t over yet Sora, I activate the Action Spell-Big Escape and end the Battle Phase of this duel. Your attack won’t even touch me!”

Odd Eyes landed with a thump and Yuya breathed a sigh of relief, he’d made it through another turn. He looked back at Sora and his monsters, he wasn’t sure how much longer he could hold them off, his luck couldn’t hold out forever.

“You can keep saying we’re lying all you want Sora, but I know I can get through to you,” said Yuya. “We’re your friends, no matter what, and I’m going to get you back. I’ll bring back the Sora I know.” He looked down at his cards and smiled, “And I have just the things to do it!” He leapt off Odd-Eyes, landing on a platform as the dragon took its place on the field. “Now, I’m going to show you something very familiar to you Sora. First, using my already get Pendulum Scale I summon Entermate Mammosplash and Entermate Nightmare Knight from my hand, so please, put your hands together for these new performers!”

A pink mop-like mammoth and a knight in shadowy black armour appeared on the field alongside Yuya’s other monsters.

“And now, I activate Mammosplash’s effect, an effect I think you might be familiar with.” Sora narrowed his eyes and Yuya continued. “Mammosplash allows me to perform a fusion summon using monsters on my field. And I choose my Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, and Nightmare Knight!”

 

_Warrior from the dark abyss._

_Dragon with shining dual-colored eyes._

_Now become one and awaken a new life here!_

_Fusion Summon! Appear and come!_

_Courageous dragon burning with sublime eyes!_

_Brave-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!_

 

The dragon that landed on the field was larger than Odd-Eyes and the red scales looked like plates of armour that covered its arms, legs, neck and back. Its horns and tail were adorned with gold plates, shimmering and glinting as it moved. In the center of its chest was a blue sphere, held by what seemed to be a silver chest plate.

“That was a pointless move, it’s still not strong enough to beat my monsters,” sneered Sora.

“Maybe not like this, but once I activate it effect…”

“What?”

“Brave Eyes’ effect reduces the attack points of every monster on the field to 0, and, for every monster affected by this, he gains an additional 100 attack points,” said Yuya, leaping down from the platform. “And I count 4 monsters, your two fusion monsters and my mammoth and Skeeterskimmer, so that means, Brave Eyes gets 400 additional attack points! Now, Heroic Roar!”

Raising its head the dragon roared, the noise echoing through the empty hall.

Yuya swallowed the lump in his throat as he looked across the field at Sora, this had to work. Whatever they had done to him, it could be undone, he knew it could, he could see Sora fighting it. The way he looked at Yuzu, how he’d hesitated, how he’d let Yuya live this long. Yuya was sure of it, Sora wasn’t just toying with him.

And that Parasite monster he’d summoned, something about it was just so wrong, it didn’t belong in his deck at all.

“Now Brave Eyes, take out his Death Toy Sabre Tiger! Scorching Mega Flame Burst!”

There was nothing Sora could do to stop the attack; it couldn’t be negated once it had been started, nor could the destruction of his monster. It wouldn’t get rid of all of Sora’s life points, but maybe if he could knock them low enough it would snap Sora back to normal. Maybe destroying that parasite monster would trigger something.

A stream of red flame erupted from Brave Eyes’ mouth, engulfing the unfortunate monster, which exploded only moments later.

Through the smoke, Yuya heard Sora scream loudly and without a second thought he took off across the field.

“Sora, Sora!”

Yuzu followed close behind him, wringing her hands in worry.

“Sora are you…” Yuya trailed off, trying to figure out how to ask if he was back to being himself.

Sora had sunk to his knees, head in his hands, and was shaking like a leaf.

Yuzu reached a had out tentatively, placing it on his shoulder, “Sora? Can you hear me?”

“Yuzu?”

Her face lit up, and she squeezed his shoulder gently, kneeling down beside him, “It’s me, I’m here. Are you…ok?”

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry! I never wanted this, I didn’t want to hurt you. But they did something to me, put something in me.”

Yuya frowned, dropping to one knee in front of Sora, “What do you mean Sora?”

He shook his head, tears stinging his eyes, “I don’t know. I remember being strapped down and-and I remember seeing this-this bug!”

“A parasite?” asked Yuzu.

“Maybe, I don’t know, I’d never seen anything like it before.”

“Selena said they did something like that to her and Yuri, put these bugs in them to modify their memories,” said Yuzu, shuddering slightly at the thought.

“Does this mean we got it out of Sora?” asked Yuya.

“It didn’t just mess with my memories,” said Sora quietly.

“What do you mean?”

“I couldn’t-I couldn’t control myself. I remember, after he put that awful thing in me, I was told fight anyone I came across. And then you guys turned up and I-I couldn’t stop myself,” he said, clenching his eyes shut as tears sprang free. “It was like I was a puppet, like something else was making me move and talk and-and Yuya, Yuzu I’m so sorry!”

“Oh Sora, it’s not your fault,” said Yuzu, wrapping her arms around him as she pulled him into a hug. “We’re just glad that you’re, you again.”

“Yeah, seeing you like that was frightening,” said Yuya. “Now come on, why don’t we stop this duel and go stop the Professor?”

Sora bowed his head quietly before pushing away from Yuzu, bangs falling into his face.

“Sora?”

“I can’t.”

Yuya frowned before reaching a hand towards Sora, only for him to flinch at the gesture. “Sora what’s wrong?”

Silently Sora rose to his feet, duel disk still drawn and took a step back. “Your turn isn’t over Yuya,” he said. “You have to finish this.”

“Sora what do you mean?”

“You have to beat me Yuya! That’s the only way to finish this.”

Yuya’s face paled, Sora couldn’t mean, he couldn’t be asking him to… “Sora no, I can’t! I won’t! I won’t attack you again. If your life points hit zero…” Yuya shook his head, “I won’t do it.”

“Yuya there’s no choice, you have to!”

“What if I surrender? Then we both get out of this with our lives!” said Yuya, hand hovering over his duel disk.

“It won’t work,” said Sora bitterly. “The duel won’t end unless someone’s life points hit zero. The Professor programmed it that way, it would defeat the purpose if someone could just give up to get out of the duel.”

“I can’t, I can’t do this,” said Yuya, shaking his head. “I won’t be the one to take your life. It’s not fair.”

“Then I guess, I have no choice.” Without another word he leapt to his feet and ran, legs shaking as he took off across the field, stumbling as he ran.

“Sora wait, what are you doing?” called Yuya.

“What I have to,” he said, biting back a sob. “I’m sorry Yuya, but I don’t have a choice. I won’t let you die here.” Using what strength he could muster he climbed up the platforms, heading towards an Action Card.

Hopping on Brave-Eyes, Yuya took off towards Sora, who was hastily scrambling up the platforms, wincing with every movement he made. “Sora stop, you don’t have to do this!” he called. “Please we’ll-we’ll find another way.”

Sora shook his head, “There is no other way.” Grabbing the edge of the platform he hauled himself up and grabbed the Action Card on it. “If you won’t do this Yuya, I will. I activate the Action Spell-Big Damage.”

Yuya and Brave-Eyes froze, staring up at Sora in horror as he set the card on his duel disk. “No, Sora no…”

“Big Damage adds 1000 attack points to the damage I just took” he said, looking up at Yuya with a sad smile. “It looks like you win Yuya. Now you can go.”

“Sora!”

Sora screamed as a ripple of energy slammed into him, eating through the last of his life. He stumbled backwards, reeling from the hit, and then the platforms vanished. With the duel over the action field disintegrated into nothingness and Sora fell.

“Sora!” With a burst of inhuman speed, Yuya raced forward, arms outstretched. Yuya buckled as Sora landed in his arms, limp as a rag doll.

“Sora, Sora please open your eyes,” he said, kneeling down as he held Sora and shifting him to one arm. “Please.”

“You won Yuya, now you can…go…and save everyone,” he said, looking up at Yuya weakly, the light fading from his bright green eyes.

“But I can’t save you,” sobbed Yuya, tears stinging his eyes and rolling down his cheeks. “So what’s the point? It seems like I can’t save anyone.”

Sora reached up and placed his hand against Yuya’s cheek, weakly wiping away the tears as they rolled down his face. “Come on Yuya, if anyone can save us it’s you. But, you gotta smile. You can’t save the world looking gloomy like this.”

“But what’s left to smile about? I don’t want to lose you Sora, I just got you back.”

The small fusion duelist smiled at him as his hand fell back into his lap. “I believe in you Yuya. If anyone can save us it’s you. And maybe, we’ll see each other again.”

Yuya hiccoughed, tears falling to the ground as they passed through Sora’s transparent body.

“Oh Sora, no.” Yuzu dropped to her knees beside Yuya, vision misted with tears as she looked down at Sora.

“Yuzu, make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid ok? He’s really gonna need you now,” said Sora, offering her a lopsided smile as he closed his eyes. He exhaled softly and was gone in a flash of light and flurry of particles.

“No, no Sora. Sora!” Yuya slammed his hands into the ground, shoulders shaking as he sobbed. “Why, why can’t I save anyone? Why must I keep losing everyone? It’s not fair!”

“Yuya…” Yuzu placed a hand on his shoulder gently. “It’s not your fault.”

“But I couldn’t save him. And I couldn’t save mom, or Yugo or anyone. How am I supposed to save anyone like this?”

“Yuya,”

“What’s the point, I just keep losing everyone no matter what I do. I can’t save anyone.”

“Yuya Sakaki! How dare you talk like that!” snapped Yuzu, putting her hands on her hips as she stood up. “We didn’t come his far just to give up. You’re better than this. Do you think Yugo and Rin gave their lives so you could give up? What about Yuto and Ruri, who are risking their lives right now to give us the chance to get to the Professor? And what about…what about Sora?” her voice hitched in her throat as she spoke, tears threatening to spill over. “He gave his life so you could go on. If you stop here then they all died for nothing!”

“Yuzu…” Yuya shook his head, shifting to rest his hands on his knees. “I just don’t know if I can go on.”

“Oh Yuya,” she sighed, “You make it sound like you’re going on alone. Don’t forget, I’m right here with you. I’m going to see this through to the end with you, whatever that end might be. Now come on, stand up and fight with me, and let’s take The Professor down, together.”


	82. Fusion Arc part 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're astute you might have noticed that there's something different now, There is now a total chapter number listed.   
> That's because I am in the midst of writing the final chapter to this AU.   
> By the looks of it, if I keep this update schedule, I can have the last chapter out by just after Christmas(I'll probably do a double update with the final chapter and epilogue on that day).   
> How exciting!

Yuto shuddered as he walked, the once bright, beautiful crystals looked dull, the luster sapped right out of them. Cracks spidered through the red stones, and when he touched them they crumbled to pieces as if they were hollow and made of charcoal.

“What the hell?” He rubbed his fingers together, even the texture of the crystals felt wrong. “This must be a side effect of the synthetic crystals.”

“Yuto, the Barian World, it looks like it’s dying,” said Ruri.

“I know, we need to find the cause and stop it, before it gets worse.”

“We’re going to have to duel aren’t we?” asked Ruri.

“Probably.”

“Then let’s go,” said Ruri, curling her hand around Yuto’s. “Let’s get them out of here before things get even worse.”

 

“What is this place?” asked a soldier with a yellow-gemmed mask, looking around the strange dimension. “And why did The Professor send us here?”

“We are to gather as much of the crystal here as we can and bring it back to the Professor,” said blue-gemmed soldier, folding his arms over his chest. “It’s not our place to question his orders.”

“Sir, sir!” a pair of voices cried out as two more soldiers scrambled over the hill and into view.

“What is it?”

“There’s-there’s someone here with us!”

“That’s impossible!” he barked, “There’s no one here but us!”

“But we saw them, two of them!” exclaimed one of the soldiers, looking around frantically.

“What are you talking about?” the leader began to ask, trailing off as two figures followed them over the hill.

They were barely human in appearance, lacking both a nose and mouth. Their skin was as dark as the nighttime sky and littered with gems that glittered like stars. One of them, the presumably female one based on physical appearance, sported a pair of shimmering brassy wings, which flared out at the sight of the Obelisk Force.

“Trespassers are not welcome here!” she shouted, arm raised as what seemed to be a duel disk materialized on it. “Especially not those who seek to harm this place. Be gone from here!”

“Sir what do we do?” asked one of them.

“We fight!”

 

“I remove one Overlay unit from my monster and target your Hunting Hound!” Yuto pointed across the field at the double-headed mechanical hound, “Its effects are negated and its attack is now 0! Now, Phantom Knights-Cursed Javelin, wipe out his monster and the rest of his life points!”

With a ghostly howl the skeletal monster raised its namesake and with a well-aimed thrust, threw it towards the remaining member of the Obelisk Force and their monster, shattering the metal beast on impact.

As the remaining duelist’s life points hit zero Yuto looked away, unable to watch as he vanished in a flurry of light, duel disk clattering to the ground.

“They’re gone, but it still hurts,” said Ruri.

“The stones, we have to get rid of them,” said Yuto.

“Fling them back to the Fusion dimension. They can’t do any harm there,” suggested Ruri.

Yuto nodded as he made his way over to the fallen duel disks. The fights hadn’t been overly difficult or long, but they were far from done yet. Bracing himself, he picked up one of the duel disks, keeping his fingers away from the gems that lined the edges, the very presence of the offending things sending chills down his spine.

“Can you ready me a portal?” he asked. The sooner they got them out of there the better, they were sucking the very energy out of the Barian world simply by virtue of being there, and it was beginning to show.

The once vibrant and colourful Barian world was beginning to dull, the bright shining red almost a dull rust colour, the clear blues clouded over and murky. Even the heart of the Barian World had begun to dim, casting a dark light over the world.

“Alright it’s open,” said Ruri, holding the portal open as she turned to Yuto.

“Good, now lets get rid of these things,” said Yuto, adjusting his grip on the duel disk before throwing it towards the portal.

It was a straightforward plan with no obvious flaws, send the duel disks back through the portals and get them and the crystals out of the Barian World. Except the moment the duel disk touched the portal there was a loud crackling sound and the portal fizzled out, the duel disk falling to the ground at Ruri’s feet.

Yuto’s face scrunched up in the approximation of a frown as he strode over to the fallen duel disk. “I don’t understand. It should have gone through. What happened?”

“Yuto, I think it drained the energy from the portal,” said Ruri.

“What?”

“I felt this tugging, when it hit the portal, the next thing I knew I couldn’t hold it and it was, gone. I don’t think we’ll be able to get them through a portal,” she said.

“But we have to, they can’t stay in this dimension, they’ll destroy it!”

“Then what do we do?” asked Ruri, looking at the duel disk at her feet. It was a small thing of plastic and metal and various electrical components and looked so innocuous, so harmless, and yet it was by far the one of most dangerous thing they’d encountered.

Yuto crouched down, brushing a finger along the duel disk, mere inches from the gems lining the edge. Destroying them seemed like a valid option but with what? It would just suck the energy out of any attack sent its way, and from anything in the Barian World used as a weapon.

“We could…no that’s to risky, we can’t.”

“Yuto?”

“No, there has to be another way.”

“Yuto what’s to risky?”

“Overloading them. If they’re draining energy, then surely they could be overloaded if a massive amount of energy was poured into them in a short amount of time,” he explained. “But it’s risky, these things, I don’t know how much energy these hold, they very well could drain us dry.” He sighed, shoulders falling, “But if we don’t do something, this entire dimension could be doomed.”

Ruri was quiet for a moment, it seemed like they were doomed no matter what. Do nothing and the Barian World could be destroyed, an act which would probably kill them too, or do something that could save the Barian World but at a high risk of dying.

“Do you think it’ll work?” asked Ruri, “Overloading the crystals.”

“I don’t know. In theory it should but I don’t know.”

“Let’s do it!”

Yuto’s head shot up suddenly, “Ruri you can’t be serious.”

“What choice do we have Yuto? This is the only chance we have to save this world, Yuya and Yuzu too. If something happens to this world they won’t stand a chance,” she said. “We’re doomed either way, so what do we have to lose by trying? Two lives, for an entire dimension. That sounds like a risk I’d be willing to take.”

Yuto sighed as he stood up, running a hand through his hair, “This isn’t what I wanted to happen,” he said. “It wasn’t supposed to go like this.”

“Let’s gather up these horrible things,” said Ruri, poking the duel disk with her foot.

Carefully they collected he duel disks, heaping them into a pile.

“So what do we do?” asked Ruri.

“The crystals have a passive ability, they can drain us simply by us touching them. I think we can use that to our advantage. If it’s going to take energy from us, then we’ll just force so much in that it can’t hold it all,” said Yuto. “Especially if we do this together.”

“Together…” Ruri put her hand in Yuto’s before looking up at him, “Alright, let’s do this.”

Taking Ruri’s hand in his, Yuto placed them both on the crystals, yelping at the uncomfortable tugging sensation that surged through him the moment he touched it. The crystals were impossibly cold and every fiber of his being told him to pull his hands away.

“You want energy, try taking all of this,” he growled, focusing on the gemstones, imagining pouring his energy into them.

Ruri closed her eyes, keeping hold of Yuto’s hand, stifling a cry as the tugging sensation clawed its way up her arms.

The crystals pulsed and shone, glimmering with the energy being poured into them.

“It’s not working Yuto!” cried Ruri, arms shaking. “It just keeps taking and taking.”

“Then force more in,” growled Yuto. “It has to have a limit, everything does.” He shut his eyes against the pain as he forced more energy out. ‘ _I just hope we find that limit before we reach ours._ ’

A resounding crack split the air and the next thing Yuto knew he was flung backwards, a wave of energy slamming into him.

For a few moments Yuto just lay there, feeling like someone had just punched him in the gut and knocked the breath right out of him. He winced as he moved, his whole body tingling and stinging.

“Ruri…Ruri are you ok?” he asked, struggling to pull himself up.

“Everything hurts,” she groaned. “But I think we did it.”

Holding his head, Yuto turned to look at where the duel disks and crystals had been, only to see a smoking crater in their place.

They’d done it; they’d actually done it! They’d saved the Barian world!

The joy was short lived however, when Yuto looked over at Ruri, and saw the tiny lights that seemed to surround her.

“Oh Ruri.”

“But at least we did it,” she said, placing her hand in his. “We saved it, and Yuya and Yuzu too. That’s what’s important right?”

Yuto pulled her to his chest, smoothing her hair with one hand. “I’m so sorry, this isn’t how I wanted it to end.”

“At least we still have each other,” she said, leaning her forehead against his. “It’s better than being alone.”

“That’s true,” he replied, pressing back as he closed his eyes, cupping her face tenderly in his hands. “I don’t think I could stand watching you die again.”

Ruri closed her eyes as she hooked her arms around Yuto’s neck, if they were going to vanish then she wanted to stay as close to him for as long as possible. As she leaned into his touch she felt his features begin to soften against hers, a rare brush of skin on skin as they held each other close.

“I’m glad it was you,” she said softly, tilting her head up as she closed the gap between them.

 

Yuya watched silently was the light faded from Dark Rebellion. While the unpleasant stinging sensation had long since faded it was replaced by a new one, emptiness.

Gone, Yuto and Ruri were gone, they weren’t going to be coming back from the Barian World, not this time.

“No…this wasn’t supposed to happen. They weren’t supposed to...” He trailed off, tears rolling down his cheeks as he slipped Dark Rebellion away.

Yuzu reach out towards Yuya but stopped short, something was wrong, something was very, very wrong. “Yuya?”

Without warning, all sense of calm vanished. The air around Yuya crackled and his posture changed, standing straighter than before.

Yuya clenched his eyes shut as the harsh voice from the Standard dimension sounded in his ears again, the angry voice that overtook his senses, the voice of the demon that had worn his skin. Rage flooded his veins and he growled, hands falling to his sides. The Professor, he was the cause of all this suffering and pain, and he needed to be stopped.

Yuzu took a step back; Yuya’s energy felt so cold, and so wrong and his entire demeanor had changed in an instant. Before she could ask what was wrong he’d started off down the hall, hands balled into fists at his sides.


	83. Fusion Arc part 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd love to claim that the reason it this was late was because I was consumed by Ultra Sun. Sadly, that was not the case. Nope, I was busy getting and setting up my new laptop because my old one finally said 'fuck you' and forced me to get a new one.   
> Earlier in the week the r-o keys just up and stopped working(that being the latest issue in a string of issues with it) and I couldn't get them to start working again. So, today I went out and got a new one and spent a bit this afternoon setting it up and porting everything onto the new one.
> 
> Also, hopefully this means I should be able to use Photoshop again(for some reason my old laptop kept, crashing when I used it) so maybe I can finally work on the Bracelet Girl's Barian designs.   
> But yeah, the update is late b/c computer issues.

Reiji knew his father was good, he wouldn’t be the headmaster of a school if he couldn’t duel, unfortunately, while he’d expected Fusion monsters, he had not expected him to have Pendulum Monsters.

In one turn his father had managed to wipe two his monsters off the field. He could survive this turn, but Reiji wasn’t sure how much longer he could survive the duel, not once his father wiped his remaining monster off the field. Setting a card Reiji ended his turn, bracing himself for whatever was to come next. All he could do was defend and pray.

Leo opened his mouth to order an attack, but stopped as the doors at the far end swung open.

“Leo! This needs to stop!”

Reiji spun around, he knew that voice, even if it had been a long time since he’d heard it, though this was the last place he expected to hear it. What was Sakaki Yusho doing in the Fusion dimension?

Leaning on his cane, Sakaki Yusho strode into the room, flanked by several familiar faces and at least one unfamiliar one. Kurosaki, Gongenzaka and Sawatari he knew at a glance, and was glad to see that they were safe and sound, but the blond woman at Yusho’s side was a new face, and her outfit suggested she was from Academia despite the fact that she didn't seem to be a hostile. Why was she with them?

“What do you hope to accomplish with this duel Leo?” asked Yusho. “What do you hope to accomplish with any of this?”

“The dimensions are in turmoil Yusho! One world split in four, it yearns to be whole again, and once it’s whole again it will be the paradise it once was. The paradise it should be.”

Yusho shook his head, “The only turmoil I’ve seen is because of you, Leo. Don’t you remember when we first discovered the Xyz dimension? It was a beautiful place, peaceful, much like our own dimension.” He gripped the cane tightly, hand shaking as he spoke. “It only became a ruined waste land after you attacked it. And now a similar fate is rolling out across all the dimensions. We interfered with things we shouldn’t have. A utopia can’t be made from this, not from pain.”

“You understand nothing, you never did.”

“I understand you did what you thought was right. But now you need to realize that this cannot be allowed to continue.” Yusho strode forward as he spoke, cutting through the duel field and past the holographic monsters. “Leo, you have always been a reasonable man and my friend. Please, this needs to stop before anyone else gets hurt, or worse. Let us sit and talk, we can find another way.”

Leo sighed, turning away from Reiji to face Yusho. “Yusho…I had hoped that you would see things as I see them. I am trying to make the world into a better place. Once the dimensions become one it will be as it should be, the turmoil will end and it will be peaceful once again. Surely you can see that.”

Yusho shook his head, “The perfect world you seek cannot happen this way. Do you truly believe that all those that you hurt will stop hurting in this new world? Do you really believe the fighting will simply stop? I understand what you want, but this isn’t the way to go about doing this. You must stop, before you destroy everything.”

“It can’t be stopped!” snapped Leo. “I never wanted to unite the dimensions this way but I have no choice. Without the fragments of Creation this is the only way. I have already gathered more than enough energy from the four dimensions, and with the power from these crystals my dream will be fulfilled. And neither you nor my wayward son will stop me.”

Yusho sighed and shook his head, “I am sorry that you see things this way, I had hoped the man I once knew could be reasoned with but it seems you are well beyond reason. I suppose I have no other choice, I will have to duel some sense into you,” he said, raising his arm. “I had hoped it wouldn’t come to this.”

“Yusho, you are my oldest friend. I had hoped you at least would side with me, that you would help me achieve something grand, but it’s clear that you intend to stand against me. I had hoped it would not come to this, but you leave me no choice in the matter. I cannot have you interfering with my plans.” Leo sighed as he raised his arm, his other hand hovering over his duel disk. “I really am sorry about this.”

“Mr. Sakaki!” Several cries rang out as Yusho was consumed by a flash of purple light.

Silence filled the room, everyone only able to watch in horror as a lone card fell to the ground.

“Dad?”

The voice was soft, almost unheard from the other end of the room.

“Dad?”

Everyone turned to look as Yuya stepped into the room, eyes wide in shock.

“He was...he was your friend,” he said, voice soft as he walked towards Yusho’s card. “He was your friend and you did this to him. How could you?” Tears rolled down Yuya’s cheeks as he picked up the card, holding it close. “How could you do this to someone who trusted you? To someone who called you friend!”

“Yuya please,” began Reiji. He stopped short as a thick energy began to pulse around Yuya, an energy that sent chills down his spine and set his fight or flight mode into high gear.

“How dare you, how dare you!”

The energy around Yuya flared, sending everyone stumbling backwards and his pendulum clattering to the ground.

Yuya screamed, and all hell broke loose.

 

Yuzu panted as she ran down the hall, Yuya getting farther and farther out of sight. Something was wrong, something was very wrong with him. She knew Yuya and this wasn’t him. Ever since Dark Rebellion had begun to glow he’d been acting weird.

_That’s not Yuya._

Yuzu ground to a halt at the sound of the voice, looking around to find the speaker.

“Who’s there?” she asked.

Something brushed her arm and she spun around, only to find no one there.

_Yuzu you must listen to me, that’s not Yuya, that’s not your friend any more._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, I apologize for the short chapter.


	84. Fusion Arc part 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so things begin!

Reiji winced as he picked himself up from the floor; the wave of energy that had come from Yuya was intense, more intense than anything he’d ever felt.

“I’m going to make you pay!” Yuya’s voice was harsh and cold, harsher than Reiji had ever heard it.

_Intrusion Penalty: 2000 Points_

Yuya barely reacted as the life points were sliced in half, unphased by the electrical shock as it crackled over his skin.

“With my Scale 3 Xiangke Magician and Scale 8 Xiangsheng Magician I set the Pendulum scale!

 

" _Swing, pendulum of souls! Draw an arc of light across the ether! Pendulum Summon! Come out! My monster servants!_ "

 

Light swirled between the pillars before descending onto the field.

 

" _Come forth! Odd-Eyes Persona Dragon!_ "

" _Appear! One with wondrous and beautiful dichromatic eyes! Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon_!"

 

With a roar the two dragons landed on the field with a resounding thud, shaking the entire room.

“Now I activate Persona Dragon’s effect, once per turn I can nullify the effects of a monster summoned from the Extra Deck until the end of this turn. So I choose your Spirit Tech Force - Pendulum Governor! Now, Alternate Persona Wave!”

The small red and white dragon roared, the spherical gems on its body shining brightly.

“Now I activate Xiangsheng Magician’s Pendulum ability. I can change the level of one monster on the field to match another monster’s level till the end of my turn! So I choose my Odd-Eyes Persona Dragon, changing its level from level 5 to level 7!”

The pink robed magician spun her staff around, showering the dragon in rays of light.

“And now, I overlay my two level 7 dragons!”

_Dragon with dual coloured eyes, storm forth and freeze all that falls within your gaze!_

_Xyz Summon!_

_Come forth! Rank 7!_

_Odd-Eyes Absolute Dragon!_

 

Reiji’s eyes widened, Yuya was performing an Xyz summon? Where had he learned how to do that? With a roar and a flash of its crystal and ice-studded wings, the large dragon materialized on the field.

“I’ve never seen that dragon before,” said Sawatari, wincing as he pulled himself up from the floor using the wall for support. The explosion of energy had sent him, Shun, Asuka and Gongenzaka flying into the closest wall, and each other in the process.

“Me neither, ain’t never seen Yuya act like this before,” said Gongenzaka with a frown. “He’s not himself.”

“Then we need to stop this, before it gets out of hand,” said Shun as he stood up.

“No!” Reiji shook his head, “Don’t interfere, not while he’s like this. He’s dangerous.”

Yuya smirked, the grin on his face twisted and cruel as the thick aura around him twisted and warped like a flame.

“I equip Absolute Dragon with this, Xyz Jeweled Crown!”

A shimmering crown of silver and gold alighted on the dragons head, the gems flashing in the light.

“With this I can give Odd-Eyes Absolute Dragon a level equal to its rank, and what’s more, I can treat it as 2 monsters!”

Leo’s eyes widened, Yuya wasn’t going to Xyz Summon again was he?

“I overlay my two Absolute Dragons and Xyz Summon!”

 

_Dragon with dual colored eyes! Be revived from the pitch-black darkness!  
Reduce everything on this earth to ashes with your raging flames! _

_Come forth, Rank 7!_

_The blazing dragon that calls forth calamity!_

_Supreme King Violent Dragon, Odd-Eyes Raging Dragon!_

 

The dragon that appeared on the field shimmered in the firelight, its wings flaring out and glowing with a hellish light.

Shun narrowed his eyes, why would Yuya go through the trouble of summoning Odd-Eyes Absolute Dragon first, when it held the same rank as Odd-Eyes Raging Dragon? He hadn’t wanted Absolute Dragon’s effect that was for sure, having immediately given it a level.

“Now I activate Odd-Eyes Raging Dragon’s effect. Because one of its materials was originally an Xyz monster I can remove all its overlay units to negate the effects of all face spell and trap cards on the field. And what’s more, I can destroy every other card on the field, and Odd-Eyes Raging Dragon gains an additional 200 attack for each one! And I count 8.”

“Eight but…” Reiji trailed off, as he looked around at the field, trying to figure out where Yuya was getting the number. Then it hit him; his own monsters were being included in that count as well. Despite being knocked around he was still in the fight, with one monster on the field and two in his Pendulum Zones.

A wave of heat and flame ripped across the field, tearing through the Pendulum Monsters in each of their zones and the two that remained on the field.

“With 4600 attack points, this strike will end you! Now Raging Dragon, attack his life points directly and end this! Destruction Burst of Rage!”

 

Yuzu panted as she ran, she had to get to Yuya, she had to stop this before things got worse.

‘ _Oh Yuya hold on please,_ ’ she thought, clutching her chest.

 

_“Yuzu you must listen to me, that’s not Yuya, that’s not your friend any more.”_

_A faint figure materialized before Yuzu’s eyes and she gasped at the sight of the young woman, her long pigtails flowing down her back._

_“Are you, Ray?” she asked._

_She nodded, “I am, and I’m glad to finally meet you face to face Yuzu.”_

_“Ray what’s going on? What’s wrong with Yuya? Why did you say it wasn’t him?” she asked._

_Ray sighed and bowed her head, “You felt it didn’t you, the darkness around him.”_

_Yuzu nodded, “I did, but what happened to him?”_

_“The Darkness has become whole again inside him.”_

_“Again?”_

_“During our first encounter I tried to split the darkness from Zarc, but I failed and shattered his tainted soul in four pieces,” explained Ray. “But now, all the fragments have gathered inside Yuya and become whole again. Yuzu, you have to stop it, or everything is doomed.”_

Yuzu skidded to a stop as she came to the large door that had been flung open. From inside she could hear the sounds of a fight. Yuya stood in the center of the room, beside him the large red dragon from the Standard dimension.

“Now Raging Dragon, attack his life points directly and end this! Destruction Burst of Rage!”

Yuzu shivered at the sight, watching as Yuya commanded the large beast, sending it towards the man at the opposite side of the room, who she assumed had to be The Professor. The look on his face was so wrong, a look she had hoped after Standard to never see again.

“Ray, how do I stop him?” she asked.

‘ _The Pendulum, that was its original purpose, to hold the darkness at bay. I wasn’t able to use it properly the first time, but maybe you can._ ’

Yuzu was about to ask how she was supposed to use the pendulum, as Yuya always wore it, until she caught sight of something on the ground, abandoned a ways off from Yuya. The once bright and shining pendulum was clouded over, dark and dull.

A roar filled the room and Yuzu looked up in time to see the dragon dive towards The Professor, flames licking its jaws and wings shining with a hellish light.

“Yuya please, you need to stop!” she cried, pendulum clutched in one hand as she ran towards him. “Please stop this!”

As the attack connected, Yuya turned to Yuzu, startled by the sound of her voice. Her arms wrapped around him before he could react, tears stinging her eyes.

“Please Yuya, if you can hear me, come back to me!”

As she wrapped her arms around him, the Pendulum flashed brightly, the blinding light illuminating the room.

A horrible echoing howl filled the air and a wave of powerful energy and wind sent Yuzu stumbling backwards, still clutching onto Yuya.

Yuzu trembled as she held onto Yuya, the pendulum swinging back and forth in her hand. Then he went limp in her arms, falling against her chest with a wordless sigh as the light faded.

“Yuya!” Hooking her arms under him she carefully lowered him to the floor before she could lose her grip. He was as limp as a ragdoll and as responsive as one. Panic momentarily rushed through her, as she feared something bad had happened him. As she shifted him about in her arms she smiled with relief as his chest rose and fell softly, he was alive, unconscious but alive.

The joy was short lived however, when another noise caught her attention, a noise from where Yuya had been standing moments ago.

Groaning, a figure rubbed their head as they stood up, standing at least a foot taller than Yuya. They ran a hand through tresses of silver hair before taking a moment to look at their hands, as if suddenly realizing that they had them.

“Well, what have we here?” he asked, turning his hands over and slowly opening and closing them. “Looks like I finally got this body after all.” He turned to Akaba Leo, who was collapsed in a heap on the stairs, having been knocked over by Yuya’s last attack.

“You know Akaba, I really must be thanking you,” he said, voice cold and cruel. “See if it hadn’t been for you, I wouldn’t be here right now.”

“Who-who are you? And what are you talking about?”

“The four dimensions kept me apart but you, you couldn’t leave well enough alone. And now I’m whole again. So to thank you, I think I’ll let you be the first one to experience my power. Count yourself lucky.”

As he spoke the shadows around him began to twist and writhe like a mass of snakes, reaching towards Akaba Leo as he pulled himself up the stairs. They wrapped around his legs, pulling him down to the foot of the stairs and the waiting pool of shadows.

“What is this?” he exclaimed, trying and failing to grab at the shadows and pull them off as they moved up his body. “What are you doing?”

Soon the shadows had reached his waist while more still had wrapped around his arms, pinning them to his sides.

“Vanish into nothingness.”

The shadows surged, wrapping him in a cocoon of impenetrable darkness.

Reiji held an arm out; keeping Reira and Tsukikage back, watching in horror as the shadows consumed his father.

Sawatari’s face paled as he held onto Gongenzaka’s arm, knees knocking together while Shun and Asuka could only watch in awestruck horror.

Soon only the tips of Akaba Leo’s fingers were visible from the swell of shadow, which soon began to sink into the floor, taking him with it.

Yuzu clutched Yuya tightly, watching as Akaba Leo was consumed completely and utterly by the shadow.

“Oh no, what have I done?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO, I'm sure many of you got increasingly distressed at me killing off the Yu-Boys/Bracelet Girls. I know you did b/c you told me.
> 
> Well, this is actually part of the plot related reason as to why. I needed the tainted soul shards to all come together in Yuya. Which I couldn't do w/o the boys being, well, dead(as you remember, each Yu-Boy held a piece of Zarc's tainted soul in them).


	85. Fusion Arc part 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Part 1" of the Big Bad™ fight.
> 
> "Zarc" vs. the Lancers

One moment it had been just Yuya, the next there was a flash of light and someone else stood in Yuya’s place, while Yuya himself was collapsed on the ground in Yuzu’s arms.

Unfortunately this newcomer was nothing like Yuya, something Reiji learned as he watched his father be consumed by shadows, vanishing without a trace.

Whoever or whatever this man was, with silver hair and golden eyes, he had to be stopped.

The most unnerving thing about him however was that he bore an uncanny resemblance to Yuya, if Yuya were a few years older.

“Who are you?” asked Reiji, duel disk raised in preparation for a duel. Whatever had just happened, it had ended the previous duel, all the stats and scores having been erased from Reiji’s duel disk, so he was going to have to start a new one to fight this guy. “And what did you do to my father?”

“I erased him.”

Reiji narrowed his eyes, “What do you mean by erased?”

“Just that, he has been completely erased from existence. He no longer exists, and in a few moments, neither will you.”

“Not if we stop you first!” Sawatari raced forward, duel disk drawn.

“Don’t think you’re taking him on alone!” yelled Shun, joining him. “I don’t know who you are but we’re going to take you down.”

“We all are,” said Reiji, stepping up beside him, soon joined by Gongenzaka and Asuka as well.

The man laughed, “Really, 5 on 1? That hardly seems fair,” he said as he turned to face them. “You should have brought more.” He raised his arm and an ink black duel disk materialized, the blade equally as black and shimmering with a violet glow. “Why don’t I let you take the first move, you’re going to need all the help you can get.”

Reiji scowled, “Very well, but I assure you, you’re going to regret this.”

 

DUEL MODE: ENGAGED

ACTION FIELD: CROSS OVER

 

A light washed over the field, scattering a number of cards and platforms around.

“Ah, an action field, I do believe I saw a few of these, but this is my first time getting to use one, how interesting.”

“And this will be the only time you get to fight in one,” said Reiji. “I activate my scale 1 D/D Savant Copernicus and scale 8 D/D Cerberus.”

_Grand power that shakes my very soul, arise within me and become a new light that rends the darkness._

_Pendulum Summon! Come before me, my monsters!_

_Come forth, D/D Baphomet and D/D Ghost!_

 

The first creature that came forth looked like a monster with wings and curled horns and massive clawed hands, but the second looked like an amber crystal.

“And from my hand I summon D/D Necro Slime!”

A skull filled with a pink jelly-like substance materialized on the field alongside the other strange monsters.

“And now, I tune my level 4 Baphomet and level 1 Necro Slice with my D/D Ghost!

 

_Howls that tear through the night._

_Gain the swiftness of a gale and become the cries of a newborn king!_

_Synchro Summon! Be born!_

_Level 7!_

_D/D/D Gust King - Alexander!_

 

The man’s golden eyes narrowed, “Well now isn’t this interesting, you can Synchro summon, most curious.”

“That’s not all I can do,” replied Reiji. “I activate the effect of D/D Ghost in my graveyard, I target another D/D monster in my graveyard and send a monster with the same name from my deck to my graveyard, and then I activate the effect of my Necro Slime! By banishing monsters in my graveyard I fusion summon a monster from my extra deck. So after sending another Baphomet to the graveyard, I banish D/D Ghost and D/D Necro Slime and fusion summon!”

 

_Hellhound that bares its fangs, vamp of the dark night!_

_In a whirlpool of light from the realm of the dead, become one and give birth to a new king._

_Fusion Summon!_

_Be born!_

_D/D/D Raging Inferno King - Temujin!_

 

“And I’m not finished yet!” he declared. “Since I special summoned a monster, Gust King Alexander’s effect activates, allowing me to summon a D/D monster from my graveyard that’s level 4 or lower, so I summon Baphomet!”

The demonic monster reappeared on the field, soon joined by another when Gust King’s effect activated again.

“And now I overlay my two level 4 D/D Baphomets!”

 

_In order to subjugate all that resides in this world,_

_Now, descend onto the peak of the world!_

_Xyz Summon!_

_Be born!_

_Rank 4! Surging Wave King - Caesar!_

 

A third monster materialized on the field and the golden-eyed man gave a low whistle. “Impressive, you turned a Pendulum summon into a Synchro, Fusion and Xyz summon.” He clapped slowly, almost mockingly. “Maybe I am out matched after all.”

“We’ll show you how outmatched you are,” said Shun. “Now it’s my turn, and I’m going to make you regret ever appearing.”

Yuzu held onto Yuya tightly, watching as one by one their friends summoned their monsters, two raptors appearing on Shun’s side, a samurai on Gongenzaka’s side; several Abyss Actors materialized through a Pendulum summon on Sawatari’s side and a Ritual monster to protect Asuka. With so many monsters there was no way that he could stand a chance.

“A good show really, all these strong monsters to intimidate me, I’m practically quaking in my boots.” He smirked as he drew a card. “At least, I’m sure that’s what you’re hoping I’d say, sadly for you it’s not. Now, it’s time for you all to say goodbye. First I discard one card from my hand and activate this spell card, Special Hurricane!”

“Oh no!” Asuka’s hands flew to her mouth in horror and the others stared at her.

“What does that card do?” asked Sawatari.

“By discarding one card from my hand, I can destroy every special summoned monster on the field!”

“What? No!”

He grinned, “It was a nice effort, but sadly, not good enough, because all of your monsters are gone!”

A large cyclone touched down in the middle of the room, and one by one the monsters vanished into it, destroyed the moment it touched them.

“Oh no!” cried Asuka, “All of our monsters!”

“And I’m only just getting started! I activate the effect of the card I discarded to the graveyard earlier, which allows me to summon it to the field, so be born from the afterlife, Rising Wraith Dragon!”

The floor cracked open and a pair of claws reached out, gripping the edges as a large dragon pulled itself out of the ground. Large tattered wings flared as it roared, red eyes flashing as it stared them down, black mist coalescing at its feet.

“See, Rising Wraith Dragon can be called from the graveyard if there are special summoned monsters in it. And, it gains an additional 500 attack points for each one! And there’s 7 of them, so that’s an additional 3500 attack points!” The grin on his face widened maliciously, “If you thought this was bad, just wait, the terror has only just begun. I activate the spell card Necromatic Rebirth! Since I control a zombie monster and nothing else, I can summon Necromancy tokens in all my available monster zones.”

Four skeletal, bat-winged monsters materialized on either side of the dragon, red eyes all trained on the other side of the field.

“And what’s more, their attack points are equal to that of the strongest monster on my side of the field, so now they all have 5500 attack points!”

Yuzu’s eyes widened in fear and horror, there was no way they could stand the onslaught of five powerful monsters. Not with nothing to defend them.

“No, no.”

“So pray to whatever you believe in, because this is the end of the line for you! Rising Wraith Dragon, attack! Take out Akaba first.”

Tilting its head back the dragon howled, wings shaking as it rose into the air, the shadowy mist clinging to its legs and creating a sickly back vapor trail as it flew.

Reiji screamed as its claws sank into his shoulders, grabbing him tightly before flinging him across the ground and into the wall.

“And now for the rest of you. It was a valiant effort I’ll give you that, but not nearly good enough.”

One by one the monsters charged forwards, lashing out with claws and teeth. One bit down on Shun, sinking its teeth into his arm; one slashed at Sawatari, knocking him backwards from the momentum, while another charged head on at Gongenzaka causing him to fall into the wall. Asuka screeched as the final one lunged at her, tearing away her life points in a single slash.

“He’s strong,” groaned Sawatari as he picked himself up. “Who is this guy?”

“And as much as I’d love for an audience to watch as I take this and the other worlds apart one by one, it won’t be you, time for you to vanish into nothing.”

He snapped his fingers and the shadows began to writhe once more, like a nest of snakes.

“No stop it! Leave them alone!” screamed Yuzu.

“Oh don’t worry little Creation, you’re next,” he said with a grin. “So wait your turn.”

“Reira run!” shouted Reiji, shadows wrapped around his ankles like tar, holding him fast. “Tsukikage get him out of here!”

“Of course.” Scooping up Reira, Tsukikage moved to run, only for a shadow to reach up and wrap around his legs, dragging him back to the ground.

“Nii-sama!” Slipping out of Tsukikage’s arms, Reira made a beeline for Reiji, wrapping his arms around his middle. “I’m scared nii-sama.”

Reiji’s features softened as he wrapped his arms around Reira, holding him close. “I promise Reira, nothing will hurt you, just stay with me ok?”

“No, nonono you’re not taking me!” Sawatari kicked at the shadows, crawling back across the floor in a desperate bid to escape. “Stay away from me!” His back hit the wall and before he could respond the shadows began to crawl up his legs. “No, please. Papa, save me…”

The more they fought, the faster the shadows climbed their bodies, soon reaching their waists and pulling them to the ground like quicksand.

Gongenzaka hit the ground with a thud, no longer able to fight back against the shadows that had covered more than half his body.

“I will not go down here,” growled Shun, trying to pull free, the shadows clinging to him like sludge and reusing to let go.

“Consume them all.”

The shadows surged and Yuzu watched, wide eyed as the wave of darkness filled the area and when it vanished, everyone was gone.

“They’re gone…they’re all gone! You killed them you-you monster!”

“Oh no, I didn’t kill them, I erased them. Death would imply there was something left. They’re gone, wiped from existence, body, soul and all.” He turned to face her, “And soon you and the little dragon will be joining them.”

“Don’t you dare! Don’t you touch Yuya!” she snapped, holding Yuya close. “I’ll stop you if I have to.”

He laughed, “Oh please, if those four fools couldn’t stop me what makes you think you stand a chance? You’re just a fragment of Creation, and she couldn’t stop me at full power! And he’s not even awake to fight me.”

As if on cue, Yuya groaned in Yuzu’s arms, eyes fluttering.

“You know, without you in my head, it’s a lot easier to think,” said Yuya, rubbing his head as he sat up, the Pendulum swinging back and forth from where Yuzu had replaced it around his neck. “And you know what, Yuzu’s right, we’re taking you down. Now, who the hell are you? Because you’re not Zarc no matter how much you look like him.”

“Seeing how you’re going to be erased soon I suppose I could tell you,” he said. “I have had many names over time, but you can call me, Thanatos.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So fun fact, in my writing notes for this arc, I referred to Yuya and this Zarc as Darkness!Yuya and Darkness!Zarc during this and the previous scene, to give you an idea of what you're dealing with(also b/c the entity reminded me a lot of Darkness from GX and I at the time wasn't sure if I wanted to go with Thanatos for its name or not).
> 
> And before you ask, Thanatos counts seven cards in the Graveyard b/c Shingo's were Pendulum Monsters and thus, went to the extra deck, not the GY (leaving 3 from Reiji, 2 from Shun and 1 each from Gong and Asuka in the GY)
> 
>  
> 
> As for Thanatos' cards in this chapter. Special Hurricane is a real card(and yes that is its effect). However the other two, I made those up. In fact all of Thanatos' cards are made up. B/c he's the final big bad and is totally allowed to have OP'd, probably broken cards. It wouldn't be a YGO Big Bad fight if that weren't the case now would it? :p
> 
> The cards' info if you want(similarities to existing cards is purely coincidental)-
> 
> Rising Wraith Dragon
> 
> Level 5|Dark|2000 Attack|2000 Defence
> 
> Zombie/Dragon/Effect
> 
> Effect: Cannot be Special Summoned/Set except from the Graveyard as long as there is one Monster in the GY that has been special summoned. If Special Summoned, Rising Wraith Dragon gains 500 attack points for every Fusion, Synchro, Xyz, Pendulum and Ritual monster in the graveyard.
> 
> \---
> 
> Necromatic Rebirth
> 
> Normal Spell
> 
> As long as you control at least one Zombie type monster summon as many Necro tokens (Zombie-type/DARK/Level 2/ATK ???/DEF???) as possible. Tokens gain ATK and DEF equal to the strongest monster on your field.
> 
>  
> 
> After the next chapter(which ft even more BS cards that I made up for this duel, haha) I'm going to make a post with all the info for each of the cards I made up.
> 
> So next up, Yuya and Yuzu vs Thanatos  
> And be forewarned, I opted not to split it up so it's a honkin big chapter(like, ~4.6k words long).


	86. Fusion Arc part 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part 2  
> Yuya and Yuzu vs Thanatos

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry on the delay, this chapter was a bitch to edit + I had Christmas Shopping to do.

For a moment Thanatos stared at them in silence, then he laughed. “Do you honestly think you could take me on and win, little Odd-Eyes?” he asked. “If your friends couldn’t lay a scratch on me, what makes you think you even stand a chance?”

“What makes you think we don’t?” asked Yuya, extending his hand to Yuzu as he stood up. “You haven’t dueled us yet. Or are you scared?”

Thanatos narrowed his eyes, “How dare you. What would I have to fear from someone like you?”

“We could beat you,” said Yuya. “We could stop you.”

“This confidence of yours is infuriating,” said Thanatos with a snarl. “I’m going to enjoy crushing your spirit. And once I’ve brought you to edge of despair, I’ll let you watch as I tear your worlds apart, piece by piece.”

“Then bring it on!”

 

DUEL MODE: ENGAGED

ACTION FIELD: CROSS OVER

 

“Since it’s going to be the two of you against me I’ll take double the starting points,” said Thanatos. “After all, I do have to take both of you down and it is two against one.”

“Fine with us, right Yuzu?” asked Yuya, turning to his partner.

Yuzu nodded, “It doesn’t matter how many life points you have, we’re going to take you down. We have to.”

“I’m sure this’ll prove to be entertaining at the very least,” sighed Thanatos.

“I’ll start!” said Yuzu. “I use my scale 3 Treble the Melodious, and scale 9 Bass the Melodious to set the Pendulum scale!”

“You have Pendulums?” asked Yuya, looking over at her in surprise.

She grinned, “I picked them up in Standard. Now, I Pendulum summon! Come forth, Elegy the Melodious Diva!”

The monster alighted on the field in a shower of sparkles and a gentle curtsy.

“And from my hand I normal summon Freya, Guide to Victory! And now their effects activate! Since I control another fairy type monster, you can’t target Freya for an attack, and in addition, all fairy type monsters I control gain 400 attack and defense points. And since Elegy was special summoned, they gain an additional 300 attack points and Elegy can’t be destroyed by card effects.”

Yuya grinned, “Wow way to go Yuzu! What a great first turn! And now it’s my turn. With my scale 1 Stargazer Magician, and scale 8 Timegazer Magician I set the Pendulum scale!”

 

 _Swing! Pendulum of Souls!_  
Draw an arc of light across the ether!  
Pendulum Summon!  
Come forth!  
My monsters!

 

“I Pendulum Summon, come forth, Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!” Yuya grinned as his monster appeared. “You won’t win this fight Thanatos, we’re going to take you down.”

“Please,” he scoffed. “I’m going to defeat you just like I defeated your friends, and then I’m going to tear apart your dimension. And when I finish with this one I’ll move onto the next one.”

“We won’t let you!”

“What makes you think you have a choice? Since I control no monsters I can summon this from my hand without tribute, come forth, Abyss Hound!”

Hound in name alone, the beast materialized on the field, turning its red eyes on Yuya and Yuzu, snarling and frothing at the mouth. “And since you control more monsters than I do, my Abyss Hound can attack you directly. Now go, attack her directly!”

With a guttural howl the beast charged forward, lunging over Yuzu’s monsters and colliding with her, sinking its teeth into her arm.

Yuzu screamed as fiery pain shot through her, stumbling back as it took half of her life points with it.

“Yuzu!”

“I’m ok. But that-that actually hurt.”

“Of course it did you fool girl, this isn’t your regular duel anymore.” He sighed, “You get off easy this time, I set three cards and end my turn.”

“Why are you doing this?” asked Yuzu, holding her arm in pain.

“Because I can. I have been known by many names through my existence, Darkness, the Void, the Nothing. This is what I do. I consume everything in my path and rend it into nothing. And with the power of Destruction at my command…” He laughed, “Oh the things I could do. I never used to be this powerful, but then Destruction came to me, took me inside himself.”

“Zarc was trying to destroy you!” shouted Yuya.

“But he didn’t. He was so scared of his own power and what might happen that he couldn’t bring himself to destroy me. So I consumed him, took his body and powers for my own. And when I defeat you, I’ll make you watch what I can do.”

“No you won’t,” said Yuzu. “Because we won’t let you win. Now it’s my turn! I tribute Elegy and Freya to summon this monster, Pendulum Flower Princess Persephone!”

The two monsters vanished in a flurry of petals, a magnificent flower bud materializing on the field in their place. After a moment the flower burst open in a flash of white and pink petals, the insides flecked lightly with red speckles. In the middle of the flower stood a female figure, her fiery hair wreathed in small round, white flowers. Her gown shimmered, flowing from pale blue to rich lavender and cinched at the waist and as she stepped from the flower, smaller ones sprang up in her wake.

“Impossible,” growled Thanatos. “You can’t have that card.”

“But I do,” grinned Yuzu. “You might have Zarc’s body and control over his soul. But Ray is with me! And we’re not going to let you win. First I activate Persephone’s effect, if she was tribute summoned I can summon one of her tributes from the Graveyard! So say hello once again to Elegy!” With a sound like chiming bells Elegy reappeared on the field beside Persephone. “Since Persephone’s on the field, Fairy-type monsters can’t be destroyed in battle!” she said. “And since Elegy was special summoned, they both gain 300 attack points! Which is more than enough to take out your Abyss Hound.” With quivering wings the monster turned her attention to the beastly hound, unleashing a sound wave that slammed into it.

Thanatos grunted as the sound wave collided with him. “I activate my trap, Howl of the Abyss! You might have Creation’s help, but it won’t change your fate. Since my Abyss monster was destroyed by battle, this lets me summon an Abyss monster from my deck to take its place. So welcome my Abyss Wyrm!” A slender, dragon-like creature materialized on the field, coiling itself up as it folded its wings to its back. “And since Abyss Wyrm was summoned, it lets me summon a monster of the same name to the field from my deck or hand, so welcome another Abyss Wyrm!”

Yuzu’s breath caught in her throat as a second dragon materialized on the far side of the field.

“If you that two as bad, three will be your worst nightmare! My newly summoned Abyss Wyrm’s effect activates, allowing me to summon yet another Wyrm from my deck, which gives me three Abyss Wyrms!”

“They still won’t be strong enough to protect you!” shouted Yuzu. “They only have 1800 attack points! Persephone attacks your Abyss Wyrm!”

A storm of petals swirled around Persephone’s hands before shooting towards one of the dragons. The dragon screeched and vanished as it was consumed by the blood red petals.

Yuzu sighed as she set a card, “That’s all I can do, so I end my turn.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll take him down!” said Yuya shooting her a grin. “With my already set Pendulum scale I Pendulum summon! Come forth Entermate Drop Gallop, Entermate Coin Dragon and Entermate Whim Witch!”

A cartoonish unicorn with butterfly wings; a cat-like witch and a snake-like dragon with a coin on its head materialized in a flash of light on the field alongside Odd-Eyes.

“And since Drop Gallop was Pendulum Summoned, it lets me draw as many cards as Entermate monsters were Pendulum Summoned. Which means I get to draw three cards!”

A grin flashed across Yuya’s face as he looked at his replenished hand. “We’re not going to let you win Thanatos, and the cards I have are going to make sure of that. I activate Whim Witch’s effect, allowing me to treat it as two monsters for a tribute summon! So say hello to Dragoncaller Magician!”

With a wave of its wand Whim Witch vanished, replaced by a taller figure dressed in a long, blue robe, adorned with bone-like protrusions and a gnarled staff held in one hand.

“Oh but I’m not done yet,” said Yuya. “Until the end of my turn, I can treat Dragoncaller Magician as a dragon type monster!”

“And what good does that do you?” asked Thanatos.

“It lets him gain an extra 500 attack points thanks to Coin Dragon’s effect, which raises the attack of all dragon type monsters I control.”

A light glow surrounded Coin Dragon, Odd-Eyes and Dragoncaller Magician as their attack points rose.

“Now, Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, attack one of his Abyss Wyrms!”

Thanatos smirked, “I activate another face down, Shadow of the Abyss! Once per turn I can negate battle and turn the battle damage I would have received into life points!”

A thick shadow fell over the field, wrapping around the dragon like a shield as Odd-Eyes’ flame hit the thick shadow as if it were a solid wall. Odd-Eyes’ 3000 attack points against Abyss Wyrm’s 1800, created a 1200 point difference. Yuya could only watch in horror as they were added to Thanatos’ life points instead of taking away from it, drawing them back up and healing the damage Yuzu had inflicted.

“Doesn’t matter, I still have three other monsters I can use!” said Yuya. “And they’re more than strong enough to get rid of those Wyrms of yours. Dragoncaller, Coin Dragon, take out his remaining Wyrms!”

With a roar Coin Dragon charged forward, followed by Dragoncaller as they zeroed in on the hellish dragons, destroying them instantly.

“And now Drop Gallop attacks you directly!” Despite the onslaught of attacks it barely felt as if he’d made a dent in Thanatos’ life points, only reducing them to 5400.

“Is that really all you can manage?” asked Thanatos. “By the time I’m done you won’t have any life points left. Now, if you are done it’s my turn. And I activate this card, Abyss Sanctuary!”

The shrouds of darkness pulled back as the arena’s appearance changed. A large ornate table rose up from the center, like some kind of altar.

“With this I can tribute monsters in my graveyard to summon a high level monster. I must thank you, for destroying my monsters; I wouldn’t have been able to do this otherwise. I tribute and remove from play the three Abyss Wyrms in my graveyard to summon this mighty beast from my hand, Abyssal Hydra!”

The black altar split in two and thick, black smoke poured out, followed by a deep, guttural growl. Then, three long necks rose from the darkness, necks that were joined to a single body. A twisting, sinuous creature crawled out of the opening, heads snapping and hissing viciously, skin shimmering with an oily sheen.

“This monster will be the beginning of the end for you! But first, I summon Umbral Horseman from my hand.”

A skeletal horse stamped onto the field, its mane and tail made of shimmering blue flames, while similar flames burned deep in its eye sockets. Upon its back sat a rider in shabby armour, unremarkable except for the fact that its head was a skull, flames glowing in the eye sockets.

“Now I activate Umbral Horseman’s effect. By cutting it’s attack in half it can attack directly.” He pointed at Yuzu and smirked, “I think I’ll attack you instead.”

The skeletal horseman raised its sword as it charged forward, running between Yuzu’s monsters before striking her and knocking her to the ground.

“And because my horseman dealt damage to you, I can negate the effects of all face up monsters on your side of the field.”

“Yuzu!” Yuya rushed to her side, almost collapsing as he reached her. “Are you ok?”

“I still have life points left,” she said, looking down at her duel disk where the number 1100 blinked.

“Don’t think I’m done yet,” said Thanatos. “You see my Abyssal Hydra has a very nasty effect. See how it has 3 heads? Well, it can attack 3 times! Now go, attack Drop Gallop, Dragoncaller Magician and Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!”

The three heads reared back, flames dancing around their jaws as they took aim.

“Yuya look out!”

Yuya threw his arms over his face protectively as violet and black flames consumed his monsters. He winced and looked down at his duel dick, vision blurred with tears and pain. 1300 LP flashed red and warningly at him.

“Yuzu what do we do, he’s too strong.”

“We just keep fighting,” she said, holding her arm as she stood up. “No one’s completely unbeatable.”

“I don’t know why you continue to fight,” said Thanatos as he set a card, “Even if you beat me then what? You save a dying world and for what?”

“That’s not true,” said Yuzu as she drew a card. “If we beat you we can save the world, and we can fix what you did. You won’t win! I attack your Umbral Horseman with Elegy! And then I attack your Hydra with Persephone!”

The first attack connected, wiping the undead horse and rider off the field. But a wall of shadowy mist blocked the second attack, absorbing it and protecting the Hydra.

She clenched her fist tightly, unless they could get past Shadow of the Abyss, winning was going to be nearly impossible.

“It’s up to you now Yuya!” she called as she set a card. “Take him down!”

“Watching you squirm is so entertaining,” drawled Thanatos. “I shall enjoy watching you fall into despair.”

“That’s not going to happen!” said Yuya. “Using my already set Pendulum scale I can summon monsters with levels 2 through 7! So come on back, Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, Entermate Drop Gallop and Dragon Caller Magician! You can knock my monsters down, but they’ll just keep on coming back! And Drop Gallop’s effect allows me to draw two cards!” Yuya took a deep breath in an attempt to keep his composure. Thanatos was strong, but he wasn’t going to win, they couldn’t let him. Yuya wasn’t sure how they were going to make things right, but they couldn’t start until Thanatos was gone. “Next I tribute Coin Dragon to Summon Entermate Drumming Kong!”

A comical gorilla in a top hat appeared on the field, beating its chest. “Now, Dragoncaller Magician, attack and destroy his Abyssal Hydra!” The magician raised his staff up above his head, a glow surrounding it. “Take it out now!”

“Impossible, Abyssal Hydra has more attack points than your magician.”

Yuya grinned, “Not this turn. Because Drumming Kong’s effect activates! I target my Dragoncaller Magician, giving it a boost of 600 attack points! And that’s just enough to defeat your Hydra!”

The three heads hissed and screeched and Dragoncaller brought its staff down, incinerating the beast in a wave of blinding light.

Thanatos sighed, “Since my Hydra was sent to the graveyard by way of battle, I can activate it’s other effects. First, it’s not going to be going alone, it’s going to take three cards from your Extra Deck with it.”

Yuya’s eyes widened and he looked down to see the spectral image of the Hydra’s heads plunging into his duel disk and ejecting three cards to the graveyard.

“No, no not them!” Yuya stuttered, as Dark Rebellion, Clear Wing and Starve Venom were ejected from the deck.

“And then, I can banish Abyssal Hydra from the graveyard in order to gain Life Points equal to its attack points!”

“That’s, 2800 life points!” gasped Yuzu.

Yuya clenched his jaw, “It doesn’t matter, I’ll still wipe out your life points, after all you can’t block my attack! Odd-Eyes attack Thanatos directly! Spiral Strike Burst!”

Thanatos smirked, “What makes you think I can’t block your attack Yuya? I activate Shadow of the Abyss’ effect. I never said it only stopped attacks against monsters; it can negate any attack directed at me and convert the damage I would have received into life points. So thank you, for giving me another 2500 life points.”

Yuya shook, he still had two attacks left but those wouldn’t be near enough to get through the 10500 life points Thanatos had.

‘ _What can I do? At this rate he’s going to win. Even if I attack it won’t do any good. How are we supposed to win?_ ’ He closed his eyes, trying in vain to banish the thoughts from his minds. “Go, Drumming Kong, Drop Gallop! Attack him directly!”

Thanatos barely flinched as each attack stuck him, chipping away at his life points. “How pathetic, I have more life points now than when your turn started!” he sneered. “You should just give up.”

“Never,” growled Yuya. “We can’t.”

“Fine, I guess I’ll have to make you see how futile this fight is. I discard the card I drew to activate my face down, Special Hurricane!”

Yuzu covered her mouth as she gasped, “Oh no, not that card.”

“Yuzu what’s wrong?”

“That’s the card he used to beat Reiji and the others. All of our monsters, they’re about to be destroyed.”

“What?” Yuya looked back to the battlefield, watching in horror as their monsters were swept up in a giant funnel cloud. “No. We’re defenseless.”

“Exactly. I’m sure you know what comes next. From the graveyard I special summon Rising Wraith Dragon!”

A hollow roar echoed through the room as the floor split and a large, skeletal dragon pulled itself from the earth.

“And let’s not forget my beast’s effect, it gains 500 attack points for each special summoned monster in the graveyard. And by my count, there are three.”

“Three what are you talking about? All our monsters went to the extra deck,” said Yuya.

“Aren’t you forgetting about my Hydra’s effect? There are three dragons from your extra deck sitting in the graveyard right now. So that means my mighty beast gains an additional 1500 attack points, giving it a total of 3500!” The dragon roared, flaring its wings as its attack points rose. “Now, let’s get rid of this pathetic thorn in my side. Rising Wraith Dragon, attack the girl directly, and get her out of my sight!”

“No Yuzu!” Yuya screamed as he stumbled forward, running to Yuzu. No, he couldn’t lose her too, not like this, not to this monster. “Yuzu!” He skidded to a stop as a blast of dark energy sliced through the air and towards her, exploding with a deafening sound and filling the area with smoke and dust. “No, no Yuzu!” Yuya dropped to his knees, tears filling his eyes. Now she was gone too. It wasn’t fair, why her?

“Face it Yuya, you’re alone, you never stood a chance against me,” said Thanatos triumphantly. “Challenging me was the biggest mistake of your life.”

“He’s not alone!”

Thanatos’ face fell and Yuya felt his heart skip a beat as Yuzu’s voice sounded out from the cloud of dust.

“No, that’s impossible!” growled Thanatos as the dust began to settle, revealing a slightly battered, but still alive Yuzu. “You can’t be standing.”

“What, did you forget about my face down card?” asked Yuzu. “Mist of Purity ends the battle phase when a dark type monster is battling. So I’m not down yet.” She turned to Yuya and flashed him a smile, “Yuya, you’re not alone. Nether of us are,” she said. “We have each other, and we still have our friends. And I‘m going to prove it to you Thanatos. No matter what you do, we’re not alone and you can’t break us!”

He growled, “You have no monsters, what can you hope to do?”

“I’ll show you,” she said. “I activate this spell card, Nature’s Blessing. I can only activate this when Persephone is in my Extra Deck. It allows me to summon her back to the field.”

“And what good does that do you?” he asked. “She still doesn’t have enough attack points to beat my dragon.”

“Whoever said she would be fighting? Because she was summoned from the Extra deck by the effect of Nature’s Blessing, I can target up to three monsters in my Extra Deck with ‘Princess’ in their name and summon them in defense position with their effects negated.” Taking a deep breath Yuzu placed her hand by the Extra Deck slot as three cards came out. “Yuya, we were never alone, and I’m going to prove it to you. Even if we can’t see them, our friends have always been with us. Through Persephone’s effect, I summon forth, Fusion Moon Princess Artemis, Synchro Wind Princess Shinatobe and XYZ Avian Princess Corvus!”

“Impossible!”

Light poured down around Yuzu, filling the area around her and driving back the darkness.

The first figure stepped forward, long silvery hair drawn up at the back of her head with a crescent shaped pin, face framed by stray bangs. Her tunic shimmered like the night sky, a deep indigo awash with stars. Silver bangles adorned her arms and ankles, catching the light like moon beams. A quiver of arrows was slung over her back and a bow clutched in one hand as she knelt beside Persephone.

A second figure appeared, accompanied by a gentle breeze. Her silvery white hair seemed to float around her, carried by the wind. A small, delicate crown of gold sat atop her head among the curls and waves. Her long green robe was trimmed with silver and gold and like her hair seemed to float around her. She jingled as she walked; small bands around her feet the source of the sound. A translucent veil wove around her back and looped around her wrists. She too took a knee beside Persephone.

The third figure appeared in a flurry of feathers and it was soon apparent why. In place of arms she had long black wings, and her feet ended in bird like talons. Long silky hair fell in waves of black down her back, held back by gold pins. Her equally black robe was highlighted with red and gold and a sword hung at her side. With a look and a nod to Persephone she too knelt beside her.

“Our friends are still with us,” said Yuzu, placing a hand on her chest. “I can feel them sill, Rin, Ruri, Selena, even Ray, they’re still here.”

“But these phantoms do you no good,” sneered Thanatos. “They can’t attack.”

“Maybe not, but they don’t need to. Because I have all four on my field, I can add a certain card to my hand. I activate the spell I just added, The Beat of Two Hearts. It has a steep cost though; I have give up half my life points and my battle phase. In turn, Yuya gets the life points I gave up. Yuya, you have to take him out.”

“Please, as if that’ll do him any good. You are alone! Those, _phantoms_ , mean nothing. It doesn’t matter how many life points you have, you can’t possibly hope to beat me.”

Yuya closed his eyes as he gripped the ground, how could he possibly win? Even with the life points from Yuzu he couldn’t summon anything strong enough to win, not with Shadow of the Abyss able to absorb an attack. Maybe Thanatos was right; he couldn’t win.

“ _Come on, don’t tell me you’re actually going to listen to that guy? Are you really just going to give up?_ ”

Yuya’s eyes snapped open at the sound of the familiar voice, tears clinging to the corner of his eyes. That voice, it was impossible.

“Yuri?”

“ _Oh, so you do remember me. I was beginning to think you had forgotten about me. Honestly Yuya. What a waste of a death that would be._ ”

Slowly, Yuya lifted his head as the spectral forms of Yuri, Yuto and Yugo took shape before him.

“ _Yuya, take our strength and fight,_ ” said Yuto, holding his hand out. “ _Fight this guy and take him out._ ”

“ _Show this guy what happens when you mess with us,_ ” said Yugo with a grin.

“ _And for god sakes Yuya, try looking at your hand before you start to despair,_ ” said Yuri, rolling his eyes.

Yuya’s legs shook, protesting as he tried to pull himself to his feet, the drain of the battle caching up to him.

“Yuzu’s right,” he said, “This fight, I can win it, because I’m not alone.” Reaching out he grabbed at Yuto’s hand, pulling himself to his feet.

“ _Take our strength and win this Yuya!_ ”

Their spectral forms vanished the moment Yuya rose to his feet and he felt a wave of warmth flow through him.

“As long as I have my friends I can win this.” He glanced at the cards in his hands and grinned, “And it starts with this card. I activate the spell Odd-Eyes Fusion Gate! This lets me target one Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon in my extra deck, and one Starve Venom Fusion Dragon in my graveyard and summon them to the field with their effects negated. And then I can use them to perform a Fusion summon! So come on back!”

Two dragons landed on the field, but only for a moment before they vanished in a glow of light.

 

_Dragon with dual colored eyes!_

_Become one with the poisonous dragon._

_Be the power that leads to supremacy!_

_Fusion Summon!_

_Appear! Level 10!_

_Dragon with gem-like eyes of kindness!_

_Supreme King Violet Dragon - Odd-Eyes Venom Dragon!_

 

The dragon that appeared from the swirl of light was nearly pure white with striking violet highlights and two different coloured eyes.

“And I’m not done yet, I activate another card from my hand, Odd-Eyes Synchro Gate! With it I can summon Odd-Eyes from my extra deck, and Clear Wing from my graveyard to the field. And while it’s on the field I can treat Odd-Eyes as a level 1 Tuner monster and perform a Synchro summon!”

 

_Dragon with dual colored eyes!_

_Gain the shining wings of light._

_Soar to the summit of supremacy!_

_Synchro Summon!_

_Appear! Level 8!_

_Dragon with piercing eyes of breakthrough!_

_Supreme King White Dragon - Odd-Eyes Wing Dragon!_

 

A long tail thrashed about as the dragon landed on the field with a roar, scales gleaming like shards of glass and crystal.

“And now I activate my third card, Odd-Eyes XYZ Gate! I summon to the field Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon from my extra deck, and Dark Rebellion from my graveyard, and I treat Dark Rebellion as a level 7 monster and overlay my two monsters!”

 

_Dragon of dual colored eyes,_

_Unleash that black scale of wrath!_

_Eradicate all opposing enemies!_

_Xyz Summon!_

_Come forth, Rank 7!_

_Dragon with eyes of rage!_

_Supreme King Black Dragon - Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon!_

 

The third and final beast materialized on the field alongside Yuya, wings flexing as it howled.

“This is the strength of my friends and me, this is our strength when we fight together,” said Yuya, placing his hand on his chest. “It doesn’t matter what you do or what you say, my friends will always be here with me. And because of that you are you won’t win this Thanatos. You never stood a chance against us, because we have each other. And no matter what you do we’ll keep fighting back, even if you tear the world apart we’ll fight back to stop you. I activate Odd-Eyes Wing Dragon’s effect, I target your Rising Wraith Dragon and destroy it, and give its attack points to my Wing Dragon, giving it a total of 6500!” Wing Dragon tilted its head back and roared, body shimmering as its attack points rose.

“We’re going to defeat you, we’re going to free Zarc from your control and we will save the world. Now Odd-Eyes Rebellion, attack him directly! Thunder of Revolution - Lightning Strike!”

Odd-Eyes Rebellion roared, wings flaring as it dove towards Thanatos and slammed into him.

“Next up is Odd-Eyes Wing Dragon, attack him directly! Shining Crystal Blaze!”

“I activate Shadow of the Abyss’ effect and stop your attack!”

Wing Dragon stopped short, the crystals on its body momentarily losing their luster before it whipped around and returned to Yuya’s side.

“Face it, even with those dragons you can’t hope to beat me.”

Yuya clenched his teeth, the last attack had brought Thanatos’ life points up to 11300, and with only one attack left there was no way he could take it out.

“Odd-Eyes Venom Dragon, attack him directly!” he yelled. “Illusionary Spectral Wave!”

The white and purple dragon whipped its tail about as it shot towards Thanatos, claws outstretched.

“Don’t give up Yuya!” called Yuzu. “Because now the effect of Beat of Two Hearts activates! Yuya, because I gave up my battle phase, you can conduct a second one this turn!”

His eyes widened and he looked back across the field to Thanatos who looked almost worried.

“Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon, Odd-Eyes Wing Dragon and Odd-Eyes Venom Dragon, attack him directly and wipe out the rest of his life points!”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [the cards created for this fic](http://authoratmidnight.tumblr.com/post/168617928555/cards-used-by-darknesszarc-aka-thanatos-and)
> 
> So while the canon ending to Arc V may have disappointed me a bit, it did give me the Odd-Eyes Fusion/Synchro/XYZ Gate cards, which helped immensely for this scene. It also gave me the Odd-Eyes Venom and Wing Dragon. As soon as I saw them I knew I was using them.
> 
> Not so much the En cards. I was, honestly, hoping for monsters. So I made up my own.
> 
> Yuzu's new monsters were initially all going to be named after goddesses, hence Persephone and Artemis, but I could not find a wind _goddess_ or any that were, avian. The wind ones were all male and I don't think bird ones exist at all.  
>  Shinatobe was the closest I could find to *any* kind of wind goddess, and Corvus is just the latin for raven(and the genus that includes crows, raven and magpies) and is supposed to be based on the bird-like type Tengu.
> 
> Also, this was the main reason I had to ah, kill off the other counterparts. I needed Yuya to have the dimension dragons, but there's no reason for the others to give them to him if they're still there(plus, I really, really did not want to write like, an 8 on 1 match, since there's no way they'd willingly just, sit out and be the peanut gallery).
> 
> So up next, the after math + the clean up, and the ending.


	87. Fusion Arc part 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oops so plot twist, you're getting two chapters today as an early Christmas present and the Epilogue next week.

Thanatos stumbled back as his life points dropped to zero, head clutched in his hands.

“No! No! This can’t be happening. I couldn’t have lost to brats like you!” he snarled. “It’s not possible.”

“You lost, now release Zarc right now!” yelled Yuya, swaying on the spot as he pointed an accusatory finger at him.

“Absolutely not. In fact I should think I’ll just destroy everything anyways, then I can really watch you despair.”

The shadows around Yuya and Yuzu began to move, creeping towards them like a wave of slithering snakes.

Suddenly his body locked up and the shadows ceased moving.

“ _I don’t think so._ ”

“What-what’s happening to me?”

“ _I will not let you hurt them. I will not let you control me any longer._ ”

“Impossible, you shouldn’t be able to fight back.” His arms snapped to his sides and he grunted, fighting against the invisible force holding him back.

“I’m going to do what I should have done long ago, when I first took you in me. I’m going to destroy you once and for all.”

Thanatos laughed, “Please, you’re to much of a coward. You couldn’t bring yourself to use your power then, you won’t use it now.”

Zarc sighed, “ _You’re right, I was scared back then and I let my fear take control of me. I was afraid that I would lose control of my power so I held back. Instead I made things even worse and hurt countless people. But not this time, I won’t let my fear control me any longer!_ ”

Thanatos screeched and dropped to his knees, holding his head in his hands. “No, stop it, stop it!”

“Yuya, what’s happening?” asked Yuzu, coming to sit next to him, his legs having finally given out from exhaustion.

“It’s Zarc, he’s fighting back. I can feel it, he’s here.”

“ _Oh…Zarc…_ ”

The shadows that had begun to creep on Yuya and Yuzu suddenly turned around and shot towards Thanatos, wrapping around his legs as his scream turned into an echoing howl. His form blurred and distorted, shaking violently as the shadows crept up his body.

“You can’t…don’t this to me!”

The howl shook the room and Thanatos began to shake and cough, thick, black smoke pouring past his lips and over flowing onto the floor.

“You have overstayed your welcome, be gone from this and every world!” growled Zarc, fingers digging into his hair as energy crackled around him.

Yuya braced himself as energy rippled through the room before everything fell silent.

Zarc swayed on the spot before dropping to his knees, panting heavily. “He’s gone, he’s finally out of my head, after so long. I can’t believe it. Thank god.” He looked towards the sky with a smile, “I’m free, Ray I’m free.” He held out his arms as a light form appeared before him in a shape that was only vaguely human in appearance, its arms wrapping around him as if in a hug. “I’m finally free Ray. What you started all those years ago, they finished. I’m finally free. The darkness is gone at last.” Zarc closed his eyes as he embraced the light figure, vanishing without another word

“Does this mean that it’s over?” asked Yuzu.

“I hope so,” said Yuya, slumping against her shoulder. “I’m so tired. Can I just, rest my eyes a moment Yuzu? Just…one moment.” His voice trailed of as he eyes fell shut, silence and darkness falling over him as Yuzu’s voice grew fainter and fainter.

 

Yuya felt like he was floating, his limbs weightless and light. And it was so quiet too, so peaceful, he almost didn’t wan to open his eyes and risk waking up from this dream. When was the last time he’d rested properly? Sure he didn’t need sleep anymore but he felt so exhausted from everything that had been happening, so drained of energy.

“ _Maybe I’ll just keep sleeping,_ ” he thought, exhaling softly. “ _It’s so peaceful, I like it._ ”

“Yuya!”

That voice, that sounded like Yuzu, but she sounded so far away. Why was she far away?

“Yuya!”

Something brushed along his arms and under his back, like someone was holding him, touching him.

The warmth began to leech away, replaced by a familiar chill, and the light, floating feeling vanished as his back pressed against something hard.

Slowly he opened his eyes, looking up into a familiar pair of blue eyes.

“Yuzu?”

“Oh thank goodness, you had me worried there,” she said. “How are you feeling?”

“Like I just woke up from a really long nap,” he said, stretching his arms out. “Wait, are we, in the Barian world?”

“ _Obviously stupid, just look at yourself, I mean honestly._ ”

Yuya jumped at the sound of Yuri’s voice and looked around quickly as he sat up.

“ _I’m in your head moron. I’m dead remember? You almost were too._ ”

“Yuya?”

“Sorry, it’s Yuri, he won’t shut up.”

“ _Hey!_ ”

“Oh, you can hear them too?” she asked. “Ruri’s been talking non stop since we got here.”

“I guess, I wonder why I’m only hearing him now though.”

Yuzu shrugged, “Dunno. How do you think we got here?”

‘Here’ seemed to be the inside of the crystal palace, though from his position on the floor, Yuya couldn’t really tell where in it they were.

“You don’t know?”

She shook her head, “No I don’t.”

“We brought you here.”

Yuya and Yuzu’s heads turned to the sound of the voice and their eyes widened in surprise.

“Zarc! Ray!”

“We’re glad to see that two of you are doing well,” said Ray.

“But why are we here?” asked Yuya, pulling himself to his feet. “Why the Barian World of all places?”

Zarc sighed, running a hand through his hair, “Because it’s the only safe place left I’m afraid.”

“What do you mean?” asked Yuya.

He waved his hand in the air and an image of four multicoloured spheres materialized. “This is what the dimensions look like naturally, separate and never touching, in constant balance. And this is what they look like right now.” He closed his hand and instantly the coloured spheres seemed to melt, distorting and twisting as they crashed into one another.

“They’ve begun to fall apart and collapse in on each other,” said Ray.

“But they can’t!” protested Yuzu. “If they collapse then everyone in them will, die right?”

Ray turned her gaze to the floor, wringing her hands together as Zarc waved the image away. “There is no telling what will happen. The dimensions could fall apart entirely, taking everything and everyone with it, or they could end up forming a new one on their own. There is no way to know for sure.”

“Then what are we standing around here for then?” asked Yuya. “We have to stop this. You can stop this right?”

Zarc and Ray exchanged solemn looks before Ray sighed, “I’m afraid not. We can’t stop it-”

Yuya lunged forward, grabbing her collar, “You have to stop it! You’re Creation, how can you not? Innocent people are going to die!”

“Yuya!” Zarc grabbed his hands, pulling them off Ray and holding them firmly. “Let her finish.”

“We cannot stop the decay that had already begun but we can repair the broken dimensions,” she said.

“But isn’t that the same thing?” asked Yuzu.

“If that’s the case then why haven’t you done anything?” asked Yuya.

Ray shook her head, “It’s not that simple. Between Zarc and I, we have the power to repair it, to put things back as they should be. But it involves literally taking the dimensions apart piece by piece and rebuilding them. It’s doable but the risk is massive. There is a risk that it could fail.” She looked to Zarc, who nodded, before looking back to Yuya and Yuzu. “Which is why we brought you here. If we succeed, we can restore things as they should be, but if we fail everything could be lost, or the world we might revive may not be that same one you knew.”

“So you brought us here…”

“To ask. What would you have us do?” asked Zarc. “The world is yours more than it is ours, we have no right to make such decision.”

“If you were to succeed, could you bring everyone back? My parents, our friends, Yuto, Yugo, everyone we lost, you could, bring them back?” asked Yuya, looking up at them hopefully.

Ray nodded, “If everything works as planned, yes we should be able to. But as we said, this is not without risk. It’s not easy to do.”

“And if you fail, then we lose everything?”

Zarc nodded, “We could lose everything. We may make a new world, but it might not be the same.” Yuzu curled her hand around Yuya’s tightly and Zarc continued. “Or we do nothing and watch the dimensions crumble apart and fall in on themselves and see what happens.”

“What would happen to us?” asked Yuya. “If the dimensions collapsed.”

“You would remain in this world, as Barians,” said Zarc.

Yuzu squeezed Yuya’s hand as they stood there, listening to their choices.

“We’ll, leave you two to think it over,” said Ray, gently guiding Zarc from the room.

With a sigh, Yuya sat down, Yuzu following to sit next to him.

“We should ask the others,” said Yuzu. “To see what they think.”

Yuya nodded in agreement, even though they’d been quiet, he knew the others were listening in.

“So _what do you guys think?_ ” asked Yuya silently. “ _I know you’re listening._ ”

“ _Does our opinion really matter? I mean we’re all dead,_ ” said Yuri.

“ _Of course it matters, these dimensions were your homes once too,_ ” said Yuya. “ _And, I don’t want to make a decision for you._ ”

“ _I’ll accept whatever decision you make,_ ” said Yuto.

“ _Yeah I mean, what do we have left to lose?_ ” asked Yugo. “ _Like the man said, we’re already dead._ ”

Yuya sighed and looked over at Yuzu, who seemed to have her own debate going on if the scrunched up look on her face was any indication.

The way it stood it was a risk either way, try to remake the dimension and risk something going wrong, or risk letting it collapse on the vain hope that everyone might somehow survive.

 

“Is it really fair to ask these kids to make this kind of decision?” asked Zarc, arms folded over his chest as he leaned against the wall. “They’re just kids.”

“You know as well as I do that they’re more than that. The Heavenly Dragons and Spirits of Nature, I wouldn’t call that just kids.”

“They are right now and that’s what matters,” he growled.

“Besides, it’s not our place to play god with their lives and decide if they should stay here or not. That should be their choice and theirs alone.” She placed a gentle hand on the side of his face, tilting his gaze to meet hers. “And I know you wouldn’t want to do that either.”

He sighed, leaning into her touch, “I know, but it’s such a big decision and right now, in this life, they are kids. Kids shouldn’t be forced into something like this.”

“No one should,” said Ray.

“I wonder what choice they’ll come to.”

“Zarc! Ray!”

Zarc smiled, “I guess we’re about to find out.” Ray’s hand slid away from his face as they turned to face Yuya and Yuzu, who had a tight grip on one another’s hands. “I take it that you two have decided then?”

Yuzu and Yuya nodded, “We talked it over and we’ve come to a decision about what we want you to do.”


	88. Fusion Arc part 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is, the last chapter!  
> All that's left after this is the epilogue!

It was a peaceful, warm day. The sun shone brilliantly in the sky as clouds drifted lazily on by, carried by a soft, gentle breeze. The wind rustled in the leaves of the trees and carried the songs of birds through the quiet midday air.

A gust of wind blew through the trees, tugging loose leaves and sending them fluttering to the ground below and the figure sleeping on the hill in the sun dappled grass.

Yuya snorted as a leaf brushed against his nose, the light sensation tickling free a sneeze and jostling him from his sleep.

Slowly his eyes fluttered open as he tilted his head, causing the leaf to slide off his face.

“I’m…outside?” Strange, he was pretty sure he should have been in school, and he certainly didn’t remember taking a nap outside. Slowly he sat up, rubbing his eyes blearily in an effort to rub the sleep away. “If I skipped school I’m going to be in so much trouble. Mom’s going to kill me.” The hand in the grass moved and brushed against something gently, something warm and soft. “Hmm?” Turning he blinked a few times to clear his vision as he looked at what he’d touched.

Beside him in the grass, slept Yuzu, seemingly as peaceful as he had been moments ago, her hair splayed out around her.

“Yuzu?”

Why was she out there, she wasn’t one to skip class. For that matter, why were either one of them out there? There was something important they had to do wasn’t there?

Yuya groaned, pressing his hand to his forehead, why did it feel like he’d forgotten something?

 

_“The eight of us, we’ve talked it over and, we know what we want to do,” said Yuya._

_“And what decision have you come to?” asked Ray._

_“We want you to do it, to rebuild it.”_

 

“Yuzu…” Slowly he reached for her hand, fingers gliding gently over hers. She was there, she was alive, they both were in fact, and his pulse quickened at the thought. Alive, alive! They were alive!

“Yuzu, Yuzu!” He shook her shoulders gently, hands shaking with excitement.

 

_“And this is your final decision?” asked Zarc._

_They nodded. “It’s the best choice,” said Yuya. “For us, remaining like this would be to painful, everyone important to us is gone, I couldn’t spend eternity like this, neither of us could. And it’s not fair to everyone left. If they somehow survived the dimensions collapsing, what kind of world would be left? At least this way, even if you can’t bring our world back, you can bring back a world, a peaceful one, one that’s nicer than this.”_

_“And you both feel this way?”_

_Yuzu nodded, “We do, all of us.”_

 

“Mmm…Yuya, is that you?” asked Yuzu, blinking slowly as she looked up at him. “Is something wrong?”

“Yuzu they did it! Zarc and Ray, they did it! We’re alive!” he exclaimed, taking her hands in his.

For a moment she stared at him in confusion, before realization dawned on her, the confusion melting away to understanding, her face lighting up with joy.

The next thing Yuya knew she’d flung herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and nearly landing in his lap.

“I can’t believe it, we’re alive, we’re both alive,” she said. “That means they succeeded. Zarc and Ray, they did it.”

“I guess this means that we’re home,” said Yuya, turning to look out at the city. “And it looks so peaceful, you wouldn’t even know that it was invaded.”

With the initial excitement wearing down, Yuya finally took the opportunity to look around and take in the sight and as he looked down the hill he saw something that nearly made his heart stop.

“I don’t believe it.”

“Yuya, what is it?”

He pointed down the hill and Yuzu gasped softly.

A little ways down the hill lay Yuto and Ruri, almost curled in each other’s arms as they slept, Ruri’s head nestled under Yuto’s chin and with one of Yuto’s arms wrapped around her middle.

Just to their left slept Yugo and Rin, Yugo sprawled out like a starfish and snoring loudly while Rin lay beside him far quieter and curled on herself, one hand reaching towards his, their fingers just barely touching.

Below them, almost at the bottom of the hill, Yuri and Selena lay side by side. Yuri’s hands were folded peacefully over his stomach as he slept, while Selena slept on her side with one arm under her head.

“They’re all here,” said Yuya quietly. “Everyone’s alive. I don’t believe it, they brought them, all of them, back.”

“Aww, who’s making all that noise?” grumbled Yugo sleepily as he began to stir. “I was having such a nice nap too.”

“Ugh, Yugo shut up,” mumbled Rin, “You’re the one making all the noise.”

Yugo rubbed his eyes slowly as he sat up, grumbling under his breath about having been woken up. He looked down at Rin and for a moment said nothing, then, “RIN!” Before Rin could react Yugo flung himself at her, wrapping his arms around her happily and almost knocking her on her back.

“Yugo what are you doing?”

“We’re alive, Rin we’re alive!”

Behind him, Yuto began to stir, Yugo’s voice shattering the otherwise peaceful silence. One by one, the remaining teens woke up, Yuri stretching his arms out over his head as he woke, Ruri curling closer to Yuto, while Selena rolled onto her back.

“Yugo you’re so loud you could wake the dead,” said Yuri, tilting his head back to look at Yugo. “Turn it down a notch.”

“Yuri be nice,” said Selena, giving his shoulder a light smack. “He’s allowed to be excited.

“So where are we?” asked Yuto, holding Ruri close as they sat up. “And how did we get here?”

“Isn’t it obvious, we’re in the Synchro dimension,” said Yugo very matter-of-factly, peeling himself from Rin’s arms and pointing. “Look, there’s the road for D-Wheels to duel on.”

“Yugo those are clearly normal highways,” said Ruri, “Because this is the Xyz Dimension. I can see Heartland tower from here. I don’t know how you could miss it.” She pointed towards the center of the city and the large building that towered over everything, topped with its namesake, a large pink heart.

Yuri frowned as he sat up, resting his chin on his hand. “Funny, because I’d know those rivers and those docks anywhere,” he said. “Those are definitely the docks from the mainland of the Fusion Dimension.”

“I don’t believe it.”

All heads turned to look up the hill at Yuya, who’d risen to his feet for a better view.

“What is it Yuya? Do you know something?” asked Yuto.

“I don’t believe it,” he repeated, a small laugh freeing itself. “It’s so obvious, how did I miss it before?” He smacked his forehead with the palm of his hand as he laughed, teas of laughter brimming at the corner of his eyes.

“What’s obvious?” asked Yuzu.

“This dimension-no this world. It’s not the Synchro Dimension, the Xyz Dimension or the Fusion Dimension. It’s not even the Standard Dimension. It’s all of them. Don’t you see? They fixed it just like they said. They said they would put things back to how it should be, that they would fix the world. Not all the dimensions, just one. Everything was originally one dimension, so that’s what they did, they made it all one dimension again.” He let his hands fall to his sides as he laughed. “And they brought all of you back too so that means…” Yuya’s eyes widened suddenly and he trailed off. “They brought you back, they brought you back!”

“Yes you said that,” said Yuri. “What’s your point?”

“Don’t you get it?” asked Yuya. “They brought you back, all of you! That means they brought everyone else back too!” Without another word, he took off down the hill at top speed, heart racing in his chest.

“Wait, Yuya come back! Where are you going?” called Yuzu, racing after him.

“To find my mom and dad!”

 

All throughout the city people began to stir and wake as the blanket of sleep lifted off them, as if a spell had been broken.

 

Dennis groaned, rubbing his head as he sat up. “It feels like I’ve been hit by a truck. What happened?” Looking around, his hands fell into his lap and he frowned, “And where am I? This isn’t Duel Academy.” It looked like the center of an arena, and the rows upon rows of seating around him seemed to further confirm this thought.

“Dennis?”

A soft voice caught his attention and he spun around to see a sleepy looking Sora sitting on the ground, rubbing his eyes with one hand. “How did we get here?” he asked. “The last thing I remember, I had just dueled Yuya, but not here.” He looked at Dennis and frowned, “You aren’t going to try kidnap me again are you?”

“No-no,” said Dennis with a dismissive wave. “There’s no point. I just want to find Yuri, seems like we have a lot to talk about.”

Sora was quiet for a moment before speaking, “Hey Dennis, is it just me, or do our duel disks look different?”

 

To the unassuming eye it looked as if Yoko and Shuzo had simply fallen asleep in the waiting room of the duel school, Yoko’s head resting comfortably on Shuzo’s shoulder as they sat in chairs.

“I had the strangest dream,” said Shuzo, stretching his arms over his head with a great yawn. “Well, I guess it was more like a nightmare. And it felt so real too.”

“A nightmare? Funny, I had one too,” said Yoko. “This whole place was in ruins.”

Shuzo frowned and gave her a curious look, “That sounds a lot like the dream I had. You don’t think it was more than a dream do you?”

 

When Shingo opened his eyes he found himself staring at a ceiling. Not the ceiling of Duel Academy, but a ceiling that was all too familiar. After blinking a few times it occurred to him why he knew this ceiling, it was the ceiling of the LDS building.

‘ _Did I fall asleep in class or something?_ ’ he wondered as he sat up, wincing as his side twinged in pain. Carefully he lifted his shirt up, revealing bandages wrapped around his lower abdomen. ‘ _Then again maybe not, dreams wouldn’t do this. But how did I get here?_ ’

Looking around, Sawatari realized he wasn’t alone, Gongenzaka, Shun, Reiji, Reira and Tsukikage wee also around, slowly stirring as they woke up. Reira was curled close to Reiji’s chest, snoring softly as they leaned against a wall.

Gongenzaka grunted as he sat up while Shun lay there for a few moments, staring at the ceiling.

“So, does anyone have any idea what happened?” asked Sawatari after a moment. “Because, the last thing I remember was being eaten alive by shadows.”

“Then it wasn’t a dream,” said Gongenzaka.

“But where are we?” asked Shun. “This isn’t Duel Academy.”

“It’s the Leo Duel School,” said Sawatari. “Which doesn’t make any sense at all. Wait…” he trailed off as spoke before leaping to his feet, flinching in pain in the process. “Leo Duel School! That means we’re home!” he said as he took off running.

“Sawatari, where are you going?” asked Gongenzaka.

“To find my Papa!”

 

The bottom of the stairs was where Leo found himself as he opened his eyes, every inch of his body aching, as if he’d fallen down the steps one to many times.

‘ _Am I, alive?_ ’ he wondered, looking down at his hands.

“Leo!”

He looked up to see Yusho limping towards him, cane taping lightly on the ground as he walked. Instead of looking upset, as he rightly should have, he seemed to be smiling at him.

“Yusho!” He shook his head, “You were right. I’ve been such a fool Yusho, and I guess this is punishment for my sins, being forced to live with what I did.”

Yusho knelt beside him, placing a hand on his shoulder, “Or, perhaps you’re being given a second chance,” he said.

“I don’t deserve such a thing,” said Leo. “I’ve done too many terrible things, things can never be forgiven.”

“I think someone out there disagrees,” said Yusho. “Or neither of us would be here right now. It’s not to late you know, to start making amends for what you did.”

“I don’t know if I can,” said Leo, looking away.

“Why don’t you let the rest of the world decide that?” asked Yusho, holding his hand out. “Come, you’ve been given a second chance for a reason, let’s not waste it, old friend.”

 

Yuya panted as he ran through the streets of the city, a city that was now both familiar and strange at the same time. He ran past streets and buildings he recognized, only to find ones he didn’t, or streets in places they hadn’t been before. The river was in the same place it had always been, but it seemed narrower and deeper, and the bridges looked a lot different than what he was used to.

‘ _Will my home even be in the same place as it was before?_ ’ he wondered as he ran. What about the duel school, would it still be there? Would it still look the same? He wondered what else had changed and what was still the same. Yuto, Yugo and Yuri recognized things from their home dimensions, so what else from the other dimensions was now a part of this one? How much would they recognize?

Legs shaking, he came to a stop in front of a familiar building, the You Show Duel School.

He didn’t know what he’d find inside, maybe their parents would be at home rather than the school, but he had to start somewhere. Taking a deep breath he pushed the door open and stepped inside.

“Mom? Are you in here?” he called out. “Mom?”

“Yuya?”

His heart skipped a beat and he darted through the school, skidding to a stop in a doorway, a smile breaking out across his face. “Mom!” Before Yoko could say or do anything, Yuya flung himself as her, wrapping his arms around her middle tightly, tears of joy trickling down his cheeks. “Mom, you’re alive,” he sobbed. “You’re alive.”

“Yuya, what’s going on?” she asked, hands coming to rest on his back as she returned the hug.

“There was fighting, and Standard was invaded. You were turned into a card.” He choked back a sob as he held onto her. “But you’re alive, and you’re back.”

Yoko frowned as she shared a look with Shuzo, “So then, it really wasn’t a dream?” she asked.

Yuya opened his mouth to reply, only to be cut off by a loud cry of ‘dad’ as Yuzu flew in the room, running into her father’s arms.

“Oh dad, I’m so glad.”

“Yuya, what’s going on?” asked Yoko again.

“It’s a long story,” he said. “Let’s just say, everything’s back to how it should be.”

 

“Ruri we don’t even know where he’s going to be,” panted Yuto as Ruri dragged him down the street, hand gripping his tightly.

“But we have to look. Shun has to be around here somewhere.”

After Yuya and Yuzu took off to find their parents, Ruri had decided to do the same thing, grabbing Yuto before running off to find Shun, where ever he might have been.

Yuto looked around as they ran, the city looked a lot like the Standard dimension had, only every now and then he’d see something that reminded him of home. A card shop they used to frequent when they wanted to update their decks, the little ice cream parlor that made the best ice cream Yuto had ever had. They really had merged the dimensions together.

 

The last thing Yugo expected to find was his D-Wheel, but there, at the bottom of the hill they’d been napping on, in pristine condition and propped against a bench, was his D-Wheel.

After giving off a screech that would make a banshee proud and examining it from every possible angle, he grabbed Rin by the hand and practically pulled her onto it.

“Come on Rin, let’s go! This’ll be the best ride ever!”

“Shouldn’t we wait for the others?” asked Rin.

“Where would we put them?” asked Yugo, “It was cramped enough with three. They’ll be fine on their own.” He looked over at Yuri and Selena, “Besides, I think they need their space.”

 

Yuri sighed as he flopped back in the grass, staring up at the sky, Selena sitting beside him.

“So, I guess this means it’s finally over,” he said, arms folded behind his head.

“I hope so,” said Selena, resting her chin on her knees. “I like the quiet. Besides, I think you and I have a lot of catching up to do. My memories might be back but, it still feels like we haven’t seen each other in ages.”

“Yeah, it kinda does, doesn’t it?” said Yuri. “Well, we have all the time in the world now, so there’s no rush.”

 

Considering the last time Sawatari had run off alone he’d gotten hurt, Shun was on his feet in and instant and chasing after him the moment he stepped outside. On the off chance that they weren’t safe he wanted to make sure that Sawatari didn’t get himself hurt, he didn’t need him running right into danger, not when he was still injured.

Bracing himself, Shun pushed the doors open and stepped outside, and onto a street that looked a lot like Maiami City. Except it wasn’t destroyed like Yuya had said, it was intact, just as they’d left it.

Sawatari lingered in the street a moment, taking in his surroundings, eyes wide in apparent surprise. Then he took off down the road before Shun could stop him or call after him.

“Shun?”

As Shun spun around something, or rather someone, collided headlong with him, almost knocking him on his back as they wrapped their arms around him.

“You’re alive!”

“R-Ruri?” As he wrapped his arms around her he looked up to see Yuto a few feet away, watching them as he shifted his weight from foot to foot. “Yuto!”

“We’re back Shun,” said Yuto.

“So, does this mean it’s over?” asked Shun.

Yuto nodded, “Yeah, it’s over. We’re not even Barians anymore.”

“What?”

Ruri nodded, “It’s true, we’re us again, alive!” she exclaimed happily. “We’re all alive.”

 

“Oh man, check out the view from up here,” said Yugo as _Clear Wing_ rolled to a stop on one of the Duel Lanes. “I bet you could see the whole city from up here.”

“And the ocean,” said Rin, “Look.” She reached over his shoulder, pointing out to the vast stretch of water. “I wonder if Duel Academy is out there somewhere.”

“Well Yuri did say those looked like the docks from–is that a boat?” Yugo cut himself off midsentence when a movement out on the waves caught his attention, something comparatively small and moving quickly towards the mainland.

“Who do you think it is?” asked Rin.

 

Yuya was in the midst of trying to explain the situation to his mother and Shuzo, when his Duel Disk began to beep at him, the screen flashing brightly.

“Oi Yuya, Yuya are you there? Man I hope this is working and I’m not getting a wrong number or this’ll be embarrassing,” said Yugo, his voice coming from the duel disk.

“Yugo?”

“Oh good it is you.”

“What’s up? I wasn’t expecting you to call.”

“We saw a boat coming into the docks and Rin and I headed to check it out,” said Yugo. “I don’t know who it is but I thought it might be worth telling you, just in case.” With a wave from the other side Yugo vanished and the call ended.

“What was that about?” asked Yuzu.

“Yugo said someone’s coming to the docks. Yuzu, you don’t think it could be my dad do you?” he asked.

“What was that about the docks?” asked Shuzo. “You need a ride down?”

 

After calling Yuya, Yugo swung back around to let Yuri know where they were going, on the off chance he was curious about who was coming to the docks. He got half way through town before he encountered Yuto and Ruri, or rather nearly ran them over as they, along with Shun, were still in the middle of the street.

“I mean it’s probably nothing but I’ve got nothing better to do,” said Yugo with a shrug. “I think Yuya’s coming too.”

 

Waking up on Duel Academy’s shore was not an experience Ed thought he’d ever go through, but that was where he found himself when he opened his eyes. Or at least the docks, the boats rocking on the waves beside him. It was especially strange as the last thing he remembered he had been inside.

If that wasn’t strange enough, things only got stranger when he saw Akaba Leo-The Professor-and Sakaki Yusho heading his way. The Professor, and Yusho, together! What backwards world had he fallen into?

With a sigh he glanced over his shoulder, as strange as the whole thing was, at least they were quiet passengers, neither having said much, to him or each other after Yusho requested that he take them to the main land.

Leo sat with his head in his hands and occasionally Ed could hear him muttering to himself, though about what he wasn’t sure.

Yusho leaned on his cane, looking past Ed and out across the water before them, seemingly lost in thought.

As land came into sight Ed frowned, something was different about it. He could see a large domed building, and tall buildings that he knew were not from his home land, and long roads that ran above and parallel to the main roads.

“What on earth?” he squinted and narrowed his eyes as they drew near. They were definitely the docks that he remembered, but at the same time, they were just, wrong.

“We’re, we’re coming into shore,” he said, hands shaking as he held the wheel. “At least I’m pretty sure that’s our shore.”

 

Almost as soon as Shuzo stopped the van, Yuya leapt out and bolted to the docks, racing past Yugo(who had just rolled to a stop as well).

A boat coming to the docks, it had to be his dad, it had to be. If everyone else got brought back then surely he had too, right? His heart pounded in his chest as he ran, feet pounding on the pavement.

As the boat neared he got the first sight of the person at the helm, a teen probably only a few years older than him with silver hair and sharp blue eyes. Yuya frowned; he didn’t recognize him at all. Then the boat turned as he brought it up alongside the dock and Yuya’s heart skipped a beat.

“Dad!” Years began to blur his vision and he had to stop to wipe his eyes so he could see again. Looking up he saw his father step onto the dock and without another word rushed forward.

“Dad!”

Yusho looked up as Yuya ran towards him and before he knew it, Yuya’s arms were wrapped around his middle tightly.

“Dad, you’re alive!”

Yusho smiled, placing a hand gently on Yuya’s head, ruffling his hair. “You’ve grown Yuya. A lot it seems.”

“I’m so glad to see you again.”

“Yuya, there’s someone I want you to properly meet,” said Yusho. “This is one of my oldest friends, Akaba Leo. Leo, this is my son, Yuya.”

Yuya felt his breath hitch in his throat as he looked up at Leo, the man who not that long ago had turned his father into a card, who had tried to crush four dimensions into one.

“You…”

“Father?”

Leo looked up as Reiji pushed through the gathered crowd, stopping just at the edge of it.

“Reiji…” He sighed, “I do not deserve any forgiveness, and I do not ask for it. What I have done cannot be forgiven.”

“Today is a day of second chances Leo,” said Yusho, placing a hand on Leo’s shoulder. “We have all been given a second chance, you included.”

“I do not think–”

“Reira wait!” A small boy suddenly slipped past Reiji and ran down the docks towards Leo, slowing as he got near.

Reira was quiet, simply looking up at Leo with curiosity as he clutched a small teddy bear close to his chest. Then, he reached out and carefully took hold of Leo’s hand, curling his fingers around it as he tugged on it.

Leo started to protest but Yusho clapped his shoulder with a smile, “It’s a second chance, take it,” he said.

Leo looked down at Reira uncertainly, then towards Reiji, whom Reira was dragging him towards before taking a deep breath and following him.

 

“Are you sure they’ll be alright?” asked Zarc, looking over at Ray. “Now that we’re gone?”

“I think we’ve been in the mortal world for more than long enough,” she said. “I think it’s time we let them be, your curiosity about humans should be satisfied now.”

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, that was the only reason they’d been living among the mortals in the first place, constantly being reborn with every new life they’d lived.

“You’re right, as usual.” He looked back to the scenes reflected in the small pool, Yuya being barreled over by Sora who hugged him enthusiastically; Yoko hugging, and then scolding her husband despite the tears of joy that stung the corners of her eyes; Yuri and Dennis staring at each other in awkward silence until Yuri hugged him. All across the new dimensions reunions were taking place as people found their loved ones and friends.

“And you’re sure all their powers are gone?” asked Zarc, looking away as the images faded.

“I’m sure. They deserve a chance to live a proper life, their own lives,” said Ray. She placed a hand on Zarc’s shoulder, “Maybe they do have the souls of greater beings, but you’re right, they are just children. They shouldn’t have to live their lives tied to ours, and they certainly shouldn’t have to carry the burden of another world on their shoulders,” she said, rising to her feet. “What do you say, think we can manage this world?”

Zarc stood as well, following her to a window cut into the shimmering crystal, stopping to look out over the vast world that stretched before them. A world of red and blue crystal with a golden ocean and warm red sky, and a shining white orb that hung in the sky, pulsing a warm, gentle light over everything it touched.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To use a Doctor Who quote, "Everybody lives! Just this once, everybody lives!"
> 
>  
> 
> Except probably Roger but who cares about him. He's a dick.


	89. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here it is at last, the final chapter in to the story...

Several days later…

 

“Yuya, get up you lazy bones, you can’t sleep in today!”

Sora banged on Yuya’s door with one hand, while Yuya tried to bury himself deeper under the covers. As excited as he was for the day, it felt far to early to be getting up and he regretted asking Sora to make sure he was up on time.

“Sora it’s like 6:30 in the morning go away, I have time.”

“Actually, it’s more like 10:30 in the morning and no you don’t have time,” said Sora.

“What‽” Yuya sat bolt upright, flinging the covers off as he looked at the clock, sure enough it was just past 10:30 in the morning.

“Sora! Why didn’t you wake me earlier?”

“Hey don’t blame me, I did come by earlier, twice in fact. And both times you said you’d be ‘up in a minute’.” He huffed indignantly, “So don’t blame me, this is all your doing.”

Yuya groaned as he stumbled about his room, hurriedly getting dressed and trying to tame down his hair. He had less than half an hour to get to the arena, and he still hadn’t had breakfast yet.

He flung the door to room open, nearly hitting Sora in the process, before bolting downstairs via the built-in fire pole.

“So that’s what it’s for,” mused Sora. He’d always wondered why they had a fire pole from the second floor to the first when they had a set of perfectly useable stairs.

“You know, Yuzu was up hours ago,” said Sora, following Yuya into the kitchen. “She’s probably already at the arena, you really don’t want to keep her waiting.”

“I know,” groaned Yuya as he dug though the fridge to find something he could quickly eat.

“I dunno why you asked me to wake you up when you weren’t even going to listen.”

Yuya grumbled as he grabbed a granola bar and a banana, Sora was never going to let him live this down. “Come on, let’s just go, I’m running late as it is.”

 

Yuzu tapped her foot impatiently as she stood out front of the duel arena, checking her watch every now and then. Of course Yuya would be late on the most important day.

“Yuya! There you are, what took you so long?” she asked as he ran into view.

“I ah, I slept in,” he admitted, rubbing the back of his head. “Sorry.”

“I thought you were supposed to wake him up?” she asked, looking over at Sora with narrowed eyes.

“I tried, three times,” he protested. “Next time I’ll just drag him out even if he’s still in his pajamas.”

“Ugh, come on, let’s get you inside and ready,” she groaned, grabbing Yuya by the arm. “Honestly Yuya.”

“We still have time right?” asked Yuya as he followed her inside.

“Yes, but barely, you still have to be properly dressed for this.”

He groaned, right, they had to look ‘formal’ even though it was an exhibition duel. “So do you,” he pointed out.

“I was waiting for you, now go!” She shoved him head first into a dressing room and shut the door. “Meet me at the entrance to the field when you’re ready, then we can get this thing started.”

 

Sora sighed as he joined the rest of the You Show Duel School in their seats. “Man, I almost had to drag Yuya here, he didn’t want to get up.”

“Is that why you’re late?” asked Ayu, looking up at him.

“Yeah, woke him up three times, the lazy slug.” He grinned, “But don’t worry, he’ll put on a great show.”

The gathered crowd wasn’t one he ever expected to see gathered in one place, on top of the obvious residents of Standard, were residents from the other dimensions.

Yuto and Ruri had sandwiched Shun between them, who was trying to hide the fact that he was in fact enjoying being there, while their friends sat behind them, Kaito with a small boy in his lap, happily stuffing his face with sweets.

Yugo and Rin were sitting together a few seats away, beaming happily and barely able to sit still. Several other residents of the Synchro dimension, Crow, Shinji and their gaggle of children, sat nearby.

Selena sat behind Yuri, arms and chin resting on his head while Dennis lounged beside him, legs and feet almost in his lap.

While Reiji sat in his own personal box, Reira had found himself sitting near the You Show trio and Sora, with Tsukikage keeping a close eye from a few seats away.

Everyone had shown up, all of their friends and allies had come for this special duel. The duel was important for a number of reasons, not the least of which was the celebration of the (literal) union of the four dimensions.

It was over, the fighting was finally over and a sense of normalcy had been brought to the four worlds.

Well, it wasn’t really four worlds any more, Zarc and Ray had seen to that. Through their combined powers they had returned the four dimensions into one single, merged dimension. It still bore traits from each of the four though, the island school that was Duel Academy, racing tacks that wove through the city for Turbo Duels, the Heartland schools on the mainland and Maiami City’s duel arena to name a few.

 

The spotlight shifted to the center of the arena and a hush fell over the crowd as a platform rose into the middle. Standing in the middle of the platform was the familiar figure of Sakaki Yusho, who held a microphone in one hand.

The union of the dimensions was only one reason for the exhibition duel; the other was the announcement of Sakaki Yusho’s retirement from professional Action and Entertainment dueling. Lame in one leg from an injury sustained during the war, it wasn’t possible for him to continue dueling as he once had.

Yoko was secretly happy about the retirement, remaining a teacher at the school was less of a commitment than a professional duelist and would require far less travel, perhaps now she could actually have her husband back.

He tapped the microphone a couple times, making sure that it was on and working before speaking.

“Today is a wonderful, new day for everyone, and I am glad to see such a smiling, united crowd here today,” he said, earning a few small laughs. “Today is a special day, a day to celebrate this new found unity, and what better way than with an exhibition duel? But before we get to that I have some news of my own to share.” A murmur swept through the crowd and he cleared his throat before continuing. “As I’m sure many of you know, but for those who don’t know, I was at one time going for the title of Duel Champion, something I failed to achieve but I unexpectedly left. I wish I could say that I would be dueling today, to make up for the one I missed but, alas, that will not be the case.” He tapped the floor with his cane, indicating to his battered leg. “However, I think it is time to allow the next generation to step forward for this.” He tapped his cane on the stage before looking around, “Could I have some lights please?”

The stadium lights dimmed until a lone spotlight centered on Yusho.

“Thank you, now, without further ado allow me to introduce the stars of today’s exhibition duel.” He gestured towards the far end of the stadium, the light following him till it landed on the doors.

“Sakaki Yuya, and Hiragi Yuzu!”

As the words left Yusho’s lips cheer and applause erupted from the crowds as Yuya and Yuzu stepped into the spotlight, dressed up for the event.

“You were really pushing it on getting here,” hissed Yuzu through gritted teeth as she smiled for the crowd, waving with one hand and holding Yuya’s in the other as they walked.

“What can I say, I was fashionably late,” replied Yuya, flashing her a grin.

“Now, before I turn this over to them, I have one last thing to announce. I am going to be stepping down from Pro Dueling and Action Dueling. I am officially retiring.” A wave of chatter swept through the crowd and Yuya shot his father a surprised look, he hadn’t heard about this.

Yusho smiled and beckoned the pair up to the podium with him. “But now, it’s time to shine light on the next generation of duelists.” The spotlight shifted from him to Yuya and Yuzu as he held the microphone out to them with a smile. “I’m turning this over to you two now.”

They looked at the microphone, then out at the crowd before Yuya spoke.

“Ladies and Gentlemen! Is everyone ready to watch a fantastic duel?”

The stadium erupted into cheers and Yuya stumbled back in surprise, he’d never actually been in front of a crowd this large before, let alone one that loud.

“Wow, I guess you are,” he laughed. “So Yuzu, what do you say, should we get this thing started?”

She grinned, putting her hand over his as she took hold of the microphone as well.

“You bet I am. After all…”

“ **The fun has just begun!** ”

 

~Fin~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I honestly cannot believe it's finally done. And I really can't believe that I actually wrote all this! 178k words, 89 chapters! This is bar none, the longest darn thing I've written. I can't believe something that started out as some concept drawings (and don't worry I'm working on the girls designs! Yuzu for instance needs to be coloured) ended up so well liked it turned into this.  
> And honestly, it's probably thanks to you, the readers. 
> 
> I've tried to write long fic before and I lost all motivation to continue writing because it seemed like no one was reading it. Sure, 'write for yourself' is good advice, but if I'm posting my writing, it's because I want people to read it and tell me what they think. So I was, honesty, not expecting this to get the reception it did. But it did, people liked it, a lot. And I actually enjoyed writing it (despite the bumps I hit along way). And by the time I got through the first arc, I was determined to see this fic through to the end, even though I had no idea how long it was going to be or when that would happen.   
> And I did, and I probably couldn't have done it without you and your support (and understand when I took time off from updating).
> 
> So, what does this mean for the future of A Different Kind of Dimensional War?  
> Well, this fic is over, but, I have been toying with an idea or something to do, as I do enjoy writing in this world.  
> An anthology of sorts with things like post-canon stuff, potential alternate endings(I have two), ideas that didn't make the final cut (i.e other characters becoming Barians as well), the original take on some scenes(I have a few scenes that I hand wrote out during the panning stage, long before I got to them, that ended up very different when I finally did get to them) and, whatever else I can think of (or maybe I'll take suggestions idk).


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